Zawsze In Love With A Stupid Beansprout
by Youtoberz
Summary: "Stupid beansprout!" Lately, Raku has been having intense headaches when he hears a voice cry out to him from a forgotten memory. Chitoge notices that something isn't right and decides to help Raku. Will Chitoge be able to help Raku despite being the main cause of his pain? RakuxChitoge
1. Stupid Beansprout!

**Author's notes: Hey guys! I'm back! I was originally going to make this a one chapter fanfiction but I decided to split it up so I can get some feedback. I haven't made a fanfiction in awhile so I was hoping to get some constructive feedback incase my writing ability dropped since last April. ChitogeXRaku is one of my favorite shippings, right up there with MegumiXKiyo and TiaXZatch (which I should be making more in the future). Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

"Where am I?"

It was as if Raku was abducted and taken to this unfamiliar place. Looking around, Raku noticed he was trapped in a seemingly endless hallway and yet he noticed something.

"A door?" Raku questioned, "Why would there only be one room?"

Feeling like he only had one option, Raku opened the door and to his surprise he found a familiar girl who he never saw like this.

"C-Chitoge?!" Raku blurted out in surprise, she was looking right at him.

Chitoge's face resembled both sorrow and silent rage as she cried silent tears. All of sudden she started shouting, but…

There was no noise?

Raku stood there in complete shock as Chitoge seemed to be screaming at the top of her lungs and yet it was dead silent. During this, Chitoge had been looking at the floor; suddenly, she raised her head and yelled in a voice that finally reached Raku.

"You stupid beansprout!"

After these words, Chitoge and everything else vanished. Raku's vision was blurred but noticed he was back in his room.

"It was just a dream." Raku whispered to himself. There was a ringing noise which woke him up; it was his phone and he slowly went over to answer it.

"H-Hello?" Raku asked, still in shock from the dream.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!" screamed a voice over the phone.

Before Raku replied, he looked over at his clock and found out he overslept.

"Dammit, I'm sorry! I'll be there real soon!" Raku yelled in shock and hung up his phone to get ready for school. Running with all his might, Raku finally met up with the person who called him earlier.

"Good morning, darling." An annoyed voice spoke to him.

After taking a few seconds to catch his breath, Raku simply said "Well, lets go, Chitoge."

His "girlfriend" was Chitoge Kirisaki and due to their families fighting, Raku and Chitoge were both forced to date each other to calm things down. It was, in a lot ways, a chore to date one another.

Frustrated, Chitoge replied "Huh?! I've been waiting here for twenty minutes and I woke you up. That's all you have to say to me?!"

Scratching his head, Raku tried calming the beast "Oh, you look nice today."

"Wha-" Chitoge blurted before retorting "It's not like you mean it. You're only saying that so I wouldn't yell at you."

"So?"

"So you really didn't mean it?! You could have at least tried to cover it up!"

"What would be the point in lying?!"

"Lying is what got you into this mess!"

And just like, the couple starting arguing all the way to school. After getting viciously hugged by Marika and receiving death threats from Tsugumi, Raku said his morning greetings to Onodera.

"Hey, Onodera. How are you?" Raku asked the shy brunette.

"I'm fine, how are- Raku?! What happened to you?!" Onodera asked in shock upon seeing Raku's many bruises.

Feeling a dark and intimidating aura to his right (which happens to be where Chitoge is sitting), Raku lied "O-Oh, I-I just… fell down some stairs today!"

To his right, Raku heard Chitoge say "Hmpf, maybe if you weren't such a stupid beansprout, you wouldn't have 'fallen down those stairs.'" The truth was Chitoge once again beat the day lights out of Raku during their argument.

Normally, Raku would've retorted to the "gorilla woman" but something wasn't right. His head started hurting a little at the words "stupid beansprout". Chitoge always called him that but something felt strange hearing it this time.

"R-Raku, are you okay?" Raku heard Onodera ask worriedly.

Not wanting her to worry, Raku forced a smile and said "Don't worry, I'll be fine. Just a small headache." Looking a little to the right, Raku noticed that Chitoge looked concern.

"D-Did… did it hurt too much?" Chitoge asked timidly which threw Raku off.

"Huh, what do you mean?" Raku asked, thinking that there was no way Chitoge could ever be concerned about him.

Irritated that Raku didn't know what she was asking, Chitoge replied "Never mind, stupid beansprout."

The pain in Raku's head that had almost subsided returned stronger and it was as if he heard an echo from within his mind "_stupid beansprout!"_ This voice in his head was Chitoge's but she sounded like she was in pain, just like the dream. Clutching his hair, Raku gritted his teeth and lowered his head to hide the pain but he wasn't deceiving anyone.

Full of guilt, Chitoge asked worriedly "R-Raku?! Are you okay?! What's wrong?!

With some of the pain gone, Raku looked up at Chitoge and once again forced a smile "Nothing, just a little headache. I'm fine, really." At this point Raku could tell he was worrying his "girlfriend".

"RAKU!" Marika's voice enveloped the entire room as she darted towards Raku and wrapped her arms gently around him.

"Don't worry, Raku. The power of my love will ease your pain." Marika said caringly.

To nobody's surprise, Chitoge took action and lifted Marika into the air. With devilish rage, Chitoge said threateningly, "Off." It was a simple command but it was the rage behind it that made Marika listen.

Turning her attention to Raku, Chitoge grabbed his wrist and said with authority "If you were fine then you wouldn't be in so much pain. Come on, I'm taking you to the nurse's office."

Knowing he couldn't stop Chitoge and being a little worried for himself, Raku gave in and the couple walked to the nurse's office. The nurse gave Raku some medicine but it would take a little bit for the medicine to kick in.

Before leaving, Chitoge looked back at Raku and said "Well, I'm heading to class now. Don't come back until you feel better."

"Yeah, yeah." Raku replied to her orders and added in a small voice "When I said 'you look nice today' I meant it. And thanks for walking me down here."

Chitoge's eyes widened as a blush rushed quickly to her face. Trying to hide her embarrassment, Chitoge quickly turned around and headed straight back to class.

"…_Why did he just say that?"_

"_...Why did I say just say that?"_

The teacher was going over new material but Chitoge's mind wasn't on the lecture, but rather on Raku's words and trying to contain her own embarrassment.

Raku couldn't wrap his head around it, after all, he knows he did say it to calm Chitoge down. Maybe he meant it but why did he tell her she looked nice?

"_Dumb beansprout!"_

As if from a distant memory, Chitoge's voice once again rang through his head. Although it was painless this time, it only surfaced more questions to Raku. Trying to get his mind off things, Raku got the nurse's permission to go back to class.

Before entering class, Raku decided to take a quick look inside and to his surprise Chitoge was blushing and looked deep in thought.

"Chitoge, are you paying attention?"

"Huh?" asked the bewildered blond. Chitoge recognized the voice as the teacher's but the person she first saw was the one who put her in this situation.

"Ra-!" Chitoge blurted as her face became a dark shade of crimson.

Going off his instincts, Raku hid himself before the teacher could look his way.

"Ra…ku?" the teacher finished her statement and went on, "Chitoge, if you're so worried about your boyfriend then you should go check on him. Come back once you get your mind off of him."

"But… But!" Chitoge protested but soon gave in as she gathered her things and slowly left the classroom. Only two seconds passed after Chitoge left before a loud thud came from the other side of the wall.

"What the hell was all that!" Chitoge roared.

"Umm… Well… How did I get here again?" Raku asked as his eyes were still spinning.

After leaving the classroom, the very first thing Chitoge did was punch Raku dead in the face and dragged his half-conscious body to the courtyard. The two were sitting on a bench.

"You idiot! First you distract me in class and then you show up to class without a word!"

"Wait, what? Aren't those two instances the same?" Raku asked.

Chitoge's rage was replaced with an equal amount of embarrassment. What Raku didn't know was that his "compliment" is what distracted Chitoge during the entire class period.

"Sh-Shut up!" Chitoge quietly said.

Feeling a kind a click in his head, Raku replied "Oh, were you thinking about earlier when I called you cute?"

By the end of his own statement, Raku had no idea of the origin of his words. He didn't even think of them so it was as if the words came out on their own.

"_Why did I say that?!_" Raku asked himself.

Chitoge was flustered and was even about to hit Raku again. Remembering something important, she stopped and asked "'Cute'? But you said I 'looked nice', remember?"

Thinking properly this time, Raku replied shyly, "Well, of course you look cute, you stupid gorilla. They both mean the same thing."

"Oh." Chitoge simply said. It was true that they sounded the same; but, to a girl, "cute" is a significant step above "looks nice". A soft blush rose to her cheeks from thinking about it.

"Th-Thanks, Raku." Chitoge said in almost a whisper. Sometimes it felt good to act cute despite the embarrassment.

The rest of the day went by pretty normally until it was time for bed. Alone in his room, Raku was looking at his pendant and was lost into thought.

"_Today was a mess. I got into a fight with Chitoge the minute I saw her. Then later she hit me so hard that I didn't fully come to until she dragged me outside. And then… And then I kept hearing Chitoge's voice screaming at me. 'Stupid beansprout'… Why? Why do I keep hearing that? I don't even remember her yelling that at me like that before the dream. She sounds so really… hurt. Did I do something to her? Wait, what am I thinking?" _Raku started rubbing his forehead and had one final thought "_I'm probably just over thinking things."_

Although it was bed time for some, there was one girl who was wide awake while writing in her diary. While writing, Chitoge was carefree and joyful until it got to one part she pondered fiercely about writing down. After a gulp, Chitoge anxiously wrote "_Raku called me cute today. It was really weird but it made me feel happy, I think. I mean it really did make me feel happy but, I don't know." _Chitoge always had trouble being honest with her feelings, even to herself. With every person comes insecurities so she added "_I just really hope he meant it…"_

Thinking about the day's events, Chitoge had a serious look and wrote one final thing "_I don't know what it is but something is bothering Raku! I can tell it's not some normal headache from me attacking him because I always hold back if it's for him."_ Blushing with regret, Chitoge erased the part about her holding back but added in its place "_Something is bothering Raku really badly and I'm gonna find out what it is!"_

Even though Chitoge may sometimes be oblivious, she has an instinct when it comes to Raku. Maybe it's from being around him so much during her high school year or maybe it's because deep down she cares so much about him that she can tell that's something off.

Suddenly feeling tired, Chitoge turned off the lights and decided to go to bed. A sudden urge caught Chitoge off guard when she saw her phone. Before falling asleep, she typed out a message saying "Goodnight, Raku." and pressed send. For not texting Raku at all today, she felt strange for sending a text at the very end. "_Great, now he's going to think I'm weird. Maybe I should just say I texted the wrong num_-" she thought until her phone cut her off when she received a message saying "Goodnight, Chitoge - Raku."

With a soft smile, Chitoge's eyes closed as she peacefully drifted away into sleep, confident about helping Raku the very next day.


	2. Wake Up Call

"We're not lovers." Chitoge said in a small, hurt voice.

Raku was inside of another dream, similar to pervious night's but this time he knows he's within a dream, And yet…

"_Why does it seem so real?" _Raku asked himself.

Rage seemed to engulf Chitoge as she went on "There is no real 'us'! We hate each other's guts and we're complete opposites in every single way! We always fight and if possible we'd rather not see each other's faces! You always piss me off and I really hate you! The real me is always yelling and punching at you!"

After taking a short pause for breath, Chitoge added shyly "And she isn't honest…"

Confused, Raku stood there waiting for her to say something next but, all of a sudden, Raku was in his room and could hear the sound of his ringtone.

Remembering yesterday's events, Raku bolted up and answered his phone without even looking at the caller ID, "Thanks, Chitoge!" Raku said quickly before hanging up and rushing to school.

Running as fast as he could, Raku met up with Chitoge at their usual spot.

"Hey, darling." Chitoge said simply.

Not wanting to get in a fight with Chitoge again, Raku apologized "I'm sorry for being late again and thanks for waking me up."

Chitoge looked confused as she asked "What do you mean? I woke you up an hour before school even starts."

…

"WHAT?!" Raku practically yelled. For the first time today, he checked the time and sure enough he still had one hour until school starts.

"What's the big idea?! I could still be still be sleeping! Do you know how worried I was about being late to school?!" Raku roared, clearly ticked off. The dream could've gave him more answers if Chitoge hadn't woken him up which added fuel to the fire.

"Huh, what's the big deal?" Chitoge retorted with annoyance on her face as she continued "You should be thanking me. I don't make wake up calls for just anyone, darling. Come with me, I need to talk to you about something."

Holding his anger back, Raku followed his "girlfriend" to a little fast food place for breakfast. They sat opposite to each other and ordered and Raku asked with a hint of annoyance "So, why did you drag me here?"

Closing her eyes, Chitoge was trying to think of how to say what was on her mind but Raku only saw this as Chitoge ignoring him and said with even more annoyance "Come on, spill it already."

Getting irriated, Chitoge retorted "Here I was worried about you and you have the nerve to treat me like this?! You're such a stupid beansprout!"

The headache resurfaced but Raku was ready. Enduring the pain, Raku clenched his fist and replied "Oh, really? Well sorry for worrying you."

Raku was just trying to keep the conversation going to keep Chitoge from noticing his pain but she saw past him and said angrily "This is exactly what I'm talking about! First you've been waking up late, then these headaches, and… I don't know. I'm getting these weird vibes from you."

"Vibes? What kind of vibes?" Raku said, still trying to keep the conversation going.

"I don't know, you've just been saying things you normally wouldn't like calling me cute and I have this feeling you're hiding something." Chitoge replied, with a hint of a blush on her face.

"Oh, don't worry about me. So how was your day?" Raku replied, forgetting that the day just started. It was getting increasingly difficult to come up with a reply.

"Would you just stop saying nonsense and just say what's really on your mind!" Chitoge said loudly, knowing Raku was trying to change the subject.

Raku's headache was only getting worse and worse until something snapped.

"Just shut the hell up!" Raku roared even louder. This may have surprised Chitoge but it surprised Raku even more. He didn't mean to shout at Chitoge but the throbbing in his head wouldn't allow him to think logically.

"_Don't yell at Chitoge like that!"_ a voice screamed in Raku's head.

"GAHH!" Raku yelled as the pain in his head intensified.

"Raku!" Chitoge cried out as she got up and moved to his side and worriedly said "Raku, tell me what's wrong!"

Knowing her words were falling on deaf ears, Chitoge placed her hands on Raku's shoulders for comfort.

After letting some time pass by, Raku's head soothed and said quietly "I'm… sorry. I'm sorry for yelling at you."

"You idiot! I don't care about that, just tell me what's wrong with you!" Chitoge said, fear in her voice.

"RAKU!" A familiar voice screamed.

Both Chitoge and Raku looked over to the source of the scream and sure enough it was…

"Raku, even from a million miles away your voice still reaches me and I, Marika, have come to assist you. So…"

Marika jolted over to her "fiancé" and wrapped her arms fiercely around him while shouting "WHAT'S WRONG?! WHAT'S WRONG?! WHAT'S WRONG?! TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!" Tears rolled down Marika's face.

"What happened to Raku?" "Hey, Raku, you don't look so good there bud." Two more voices added.

Looking over, the two new arrivals were none other than Tsugumi and Shuu.

"What… Are you two… Doing together..?" Raku asked between breathes, Marika was embracing the air out of him.

Blushing with fury, Tsugumi said "No, it's not what it looks like! The two of us happened to get here around the same time! I wouldn't willingly be in this guy's company!"

Smiling with delight, Shuu teased "Oh, what's this? Could you be embarrassed because you like me? Well there's no need to be shy Tsugumi because I am always avail-" Shuu couldn't finish his sentence before Tsugumi started beating him.

Getting extremely irritated, Chitoge looked around at Marika who was "comforting" Raku "Shh, close your eyes, Raku. These soft arms of mine will help you drift into bliss."

"I… Can't… Breath…" Raku tried talking sense into Marika who always forgot about the most important things.

"All of you…" Chitoge said silently. Her irritation grew into rage which she used to grab Marika and roll her like a bowling ball at Shuu and Tsugumi.

"GET OUT!" Chitoge roared at the three and sure enough she got a strike. After being the bowling ball, Marika actually passed out.

Completely pissed off, Chitoge left with Tsugumi without saying a word while Raku left with Shuu. Not wanting to leave Marika like this, Raku carried her on his back.

"So, what's wrong with you buddy?" Shuu popped the question.

Shuu was Raku's best friend and even though he was really silly at times (most times) Raku trusted him with something he himself didn't understand.

Taking a breath, Raku explained the entire situation as best he could.

"I see. Maybe you really do love Chitoge!" Shuu said with a huge smile and thumbs up.

"What?!" Raku yelled as his face turned red.

Like how a robot would wake up after hearing a particular phrase, Marika went from completely unconscious to full of energy which she used to fiercely hug Raku and shouted "Don't be ridiculous! You dare even take into possibility that Raku, my one true love, could ever take fancy to another woman, a gorilla at that?! I won't forgive idiots who spill such nonsense, so…"

The idea of Raku loving Chitoge popped into her head which caused endless tears to fall from her eyes. Once again squeezing the air out of Raku, Marika pleaded to Shuu "TAKE IT BACK! TAKE IT BACK! PLEASE, TAKE IT BACK!"

Laughing, Shuu said "Hahaha! Just joking, just joking! Anyways, you're on your own for this one buddy. Only you can solve the mysteries of your own mind."

The rest of the day went by normally, however, Raku and Chitoge didn't say a word to one another until the school day already ended. Raku was about to head home from school.

"Hey, Raku? How are you feeling?" A soft voice asked.

Raku turned around and to his surprise the soft voice belonged to Chitoge who once again had that concerned look on her face.

"Oh, hey, Chitoge. I'm okay." Raku replied and added politely "How are you?"

Giving a small smile, Chitoge replied "Oh, I'm fine. I was really pissed off the entire day though. Sorry… for not talking to you. I didn't want to take my anger out on you when you're like this."

"N-No. It's fine. I was actually worried that you were angry at me." Raku replied in shock. Chitoge was only nice to him once in a blue moon.

"C-Chitoge, you don't have to treat me differently just because something's wrong with me. And you don't have to worry either. I'll figure this out." Raku said to Chitoge, trying to ease her worries.

Noticing something, Chitoge continued to smile and said "It makes me happy, you know, us being nice to each other." Chitoge started blushing at the end of her own statement.

This caught Raku off guard. It took him a few seconds to reply "U-Ummm yeah. I-It's a nice c-change of scenery. But why are you treating me so nicely?"

Ignoring his question, Chitoge took a deep breath and regained her usual confidence as she said "Raku, let's go on a date tomorrow. Just the two of us with no distractions, okay?"

It seemed like whenever Raku thought Chitoge couldn't get even weirder, she proved him wrong. Trying to think logically, Raku asked "W-What?! Is Claude getting suspicious again or something?!"

"Just say yes!" Chitoge blurted, her blush went from pink to scarlet.

"I… Okay." Raku gave in.

"S-So… It's a yes?" Chitoge asked timidly.

After taking a second to rethink it, Raku looked Chitoge in her sky blue eyes and said "Y-Yeah."

Smiling from relief, Chitoge took a breath and said cheerfully "Thanks, Raku!"

"N-No problem." Raku replied. There was an awkward silence between the two until Raku said "Well, I'm heading home now. Catch you later, Chitoge."

"W-Wait!" Chitoge ordered.

Raku looked around and saw that Chitoge was blushing crimson and had an uncertain look on her face.

"_I… I can do this!" _Chitoge told herself as she shook negative thoughts out of her head and walked closer to Raku. Once Raku was right in front of her, Chitoge paused for a second and then swiftly wrapped her arms around him.

"C-C-Chitoge?!" Raku stuttered from shock. Unfortunately for Raku, this only embarrassed Chitoge to the point where she instinctively headbutted him with a forehead of steel.

"I'm sorry!" Chitoge yelled as she fled the embarrassing scene, leaving Raku dazed.

"W-Wha… What just happened?" Raku voiced his thoughts of disbelief. During the entire walk home he couldn't stop thinking about Chitoge and the hug.

"_And Chitoge said I was acting weird lately! She's being so nice it's creeping me out! I mean she even hugged me willingly and even the hug felt weird! The hug feels like it's between Kosaki's soft hug and the many vicious hugs I've gotten from Marika. God dammit, why?! When Kosaki hugged me I felt really uncomfortable. I really like Kosaki, she's the one I want to be with. Then why, why does getting a hug from Chitoge put butterflies in my stomach?!" _

Alone in her room, Chitoge sat on her bed and contemplated her actions.

"_I can't believe I did that! God dammit, it's been hours since then and I'm still really embarrassed! I can't believe I asked Raku on a date, A REAL DATE. I don't even think he even knows it's a real date! How will I approach him tomorrow with me feeling like this?! Dammit! This is all Shuu's fault!"_

-Flashback-

Knowing Shuu and Raku are best friends, Chitoge cornered Shuu to get information about her darling out of him.

"Well you see…" Shuu said with seriousness, "Raku has a lot of stress on him right now. Try being nicer to him, take him out on a date, give him a hug full of love!" Shuu's seriousness quickly changed into silliness.

Chitoge pummeled Shuu for his teasing but took his advice regardless.

-End of flashback-

"_And the hug! And the hug… It was so embarrassing and nerve racking but I was really happy… You know, until he tasted my head of steel. Wait, what am I saying?! He didn't even hug me back. That stupid beansprout! I put so much effort into that and he couldn't even hug me back?!"_

Getting angry, Chitoge started rolling around violently on her bed saying all the nasty words in the book. It was if all of Chitoge's frustration from earlier resurfaced but a thought came to her head that made her calm down.

"_Tomorrow… I'm going to make sure he hugs me back…"_

Back in Raku's room, the young yakuza was dreading sleep but realized he couldn't avoid it forever and slowly drifted off.

Expectantly, Raku fell into the same scene in the hallway. After a gulp, Raku once again opened the door for answers but only led to more questions.

"W-What the hell?!" Raku blurted once he found himself in the wilderness.

A voice called out "Go away! You can't hurt her!"

Looking for the source of the voice, Raku saw a younger version of himself, with small tracks of blood running down his face, yelling at a wolf. Looking closer, Raku saw a little girl with a red ribbon on her head and was crying behind his younger version.

The scene shifted to a hospital room where the little girl was crying endless, pleading the little boy on the bed to wake up.

"WAKE UP!" Small Chitoge wailed.

"GAH!" Raku screamed, alarmed by his new surroundings, his own bedroom.

"_Dammit! I can't sleep like this! It's too much!" _Raku screamed at himself. A soothing thought calmed him down "_Maybe I should call Kosaki, I'm sure talking to her can calm my nerves."_

"Ugh! I hate him! I hate him! I hate him! I HATE HIM!" Chitoge screamed. Thoughts of Raku stole sleep away from her. "Dammit! Why can't I just-"

-Ring ring-

"_Huh, who would be calling me this- RAKU?!" _Chitoge thought as she was looking at the caller ID. At first she hesitated but answered regardless.

"H-Hello?" Chitoge asked with surprise.

"Hey, Chitoge. I'm sorry to bother you this late." Raku replied apologetically.

"_It really is him! Wait, he only calls me when it's an emergency." _Chitoge thought to herself and asked seriously "Why did you call so late? Is there anything wrong?"

Scratching his cheek, Raku replied nervously "Well, I had kind of a nightmare. I just woke up not too long ago and I don't want to go back to sleep just yet."

Unable to contain herself, Chitoge burst out laughing and said "Hahaha! And here I was worried about you but baby Raku only called over a little scary dream!"

Already braced for her laughter, Raku gave a tiny laugh himself and said "Yeah, I'm sorry for calling you about it but you were the only person I could really go to."

"W-What? I'm the only one..?" Chitoge asked slowly, her laughter had completely stopped.

Raku sighed and replied "Yeah, I wanted to call someone else about it but the only person I felt comfortable going to about it was you. Probably because it doesn't bother me to deprive you of sleep."

Chitoge heard the second part of Raku's statement but only cared for the first part. "_The only person… is you."_ Chitoge repeated Raku's words in her head as a mad blush appeared on her face.

"Plus, you were in the dream too." Raku added.

Chitoge had a muffled squeal as her blush got worse. "_H-H-He's dreaming of m-m-me?!"_ Chitoge asked herself. "W-What k-kind of dreams?" Chitoge asked Raku timidly.

Raku thought she misunderstood something and yelled "No no no! Not like "those" kinds of dreams!"

After taking a deep breath, Raku told Chitoge about his past few dreams involving her.

"R-Raku…" Chitoge said without finishing. What she knew that Raku didn't was that his dreams weren't just dreams. They actually happened and he just forgot about them. At a loss for words, Chitoge grew silent.

Raku misinterpreted Chitoge's silence and apologized "Sorry, I didn't know that it would bother you this much."

Suddenly, Chitoge interrupted "No! Don't you dare apologize! It's okay. I'm glad you told me and you better keep telling me things. I don't like being left in the dark, Raku. So if anything happens… give me a call, okay? As long as I'm not at school, no, scratch that, just call me anytime of the day if something happens. Promise me." Chitoge wasn't asking, she was demanding.

After being startled for a few seconds, Raku smiled and said softly "Thanks, Chitoge. I knew I called the right person."

And just like that, they both blushed furiously and Raku tried covering it up but he wasn't fooling anyone "I-I meant I knew I called the right person because you were in my dreams. Y-Yeah, that's what I meant!"

"Y-Yeah, totally!" Chitoge said in false agreement.

After letting a few awkward seconds pass, Raku added "H-Hey, you know you can call me too if, you know, if something really important comes up… Scratch that, if you ever want to call me just do it. In fact, when you called me yesterday you saved me from being late."

Starting to smile again, Chitoge replied "I will. So if I call and you don't pick up there will be hell to pay. Also, I think you meant to say 'when you called me two days ago'. It's three in the morning, you know."

"T-Three in the morning?!" Raku repeated in a yell and apologized "I'm so sorry, Chitoge! I called because I needed someone to talk to but I woke you up this late and-"

"Hey, it's okay." Chitoge interrupted the crazy apologetic one and went on "Like I said, I'm glad you called me. I just realized that I needed someone to talk to as well so we killed two birds with one stone together. Umm… Thanks… Raku."

Starting to blush, Raku was confused about Chitoge's behavior towards him lately. Usually she's nasty and unforgiving when it came to him but it's been turned around. Chitoge's kindness and seems unreal for him and yet it also feels legitimate and true.

The uneasiness in Raku's brain subsided from the purity of the butterflies in his heart. Not wanting to bother Chitoge any longer, Raku said "Well, I'm going to bed now. Besides laughing at me, you're a really good listener. I'm sorry for keeping you up these past few minutes. And, uh… I'll see you during our… Our d-date tomorrow. Good night."

-Click-

"Hmpf, 'sorry for keeping you up these past few minutes'? Try the last few hours." Chitoge said with a little annoyance but she added with a smile "Still though, you really know how to pull through for me in the end."

Positioned herself for sleep, Chitoge looked over at her stuffed gorilla doll that Raku gifted her on her birthday and whispered "Sweet dreams, Raku. I… I love you."


	3. Meow Destroyer: Pusheen's Revenge!

"Wha-What time is it?" Raku asked himself sleepily. Letting out a yawn, Raku looked over at his alarm clock.

"Nine o'clock, huh." Raku examined. Finally, after all the disasters he had with sleep lately, he actually had a good night's sleep without strange dreams. Usually waking up at nine in the morning would give Raku a heart attack but it was a Saturday so he had a day off from school.

"_I have to thank Chitoge when I see her." _Raku thought to himself, thankful for not having any other strange dreams after he called her.

Remembering his date, Raku grabbed his cell phone and texted Chitoge "Yo, when and where do you want to meet up?"

After getting dressed, Raku heard his phone beep and received a text from Chitoge which read "Right now at your door."

"What?!" Raku shouted in surprise. Running to his door, he opened it and sure enough Chitoge was standing behind it but something startled him.

Looking at Chitoge, she had on a red dress that reflected her ribbon's flaming personality along with a blue skirt that complimented her pure, sky blue eyes.

Raku thought to himself about Chitoge's appearance "_B-Beautiful… Wait, what the hell am I saying?!_"

"Good morning, darling." Chitoge said with a slight blush on her face.

"Umm… Hi…" Raku said, dumbfounded and looking away.

After an awkward silence, Chitoge spoke "So, where are you taking me today on our… Our date?"

After being brought back to reality, Raku replied "Huh? Why don't you lead today."

"No way! You know the boy is supposed to be the one to lead." Chitoge protested.

Puzzled and a little annoyed to be put on the spot, Raku replied "That's only if the boy was the one to ask the girl out on a date. Besides, I thought you hated following me around."

Crossing her arms, Chitoge complained "Even though you take me to places that suck, I don't like being the leader. Here's a thought, why don't you take me to somewhere I like?"

Raku felt like he was about to snap but then he realized something; after the strange way Chitoge has been treating him lately she was finally acting normal which felt relieving. Knowing that Chitoge was her usual bossy, hard to handle, and unreasonable self meant that there was something in the world that wasn't wrong.

Giving a soft smile, Raku gave in "Okay, where would you like to go today, princess?"

Chitoge's heart skipped a beat and her eyes widened when she heard "princess". "D-Don't call me that! It's weird!" Chitoge shouted as a blush started at her cheeks.

Raku started laughing as Chitoge approached with her fists ready as she threatened "What's so funny?! You're going to be a rotten beansprout when I'm through with you!"

Waving his hands in front of her, Raku explained "Hahaha, I'm sorry! It's just I was so relieved that I couldn't stop laughing." Noticing a confused look on Chitoge as she lowered her fists, Raku explained further "You were acting strange yesterday so it was refreshing to talk normally with each other."

Noticing that Chitoge calling him "beansprout" didn't give him a headache, Raku's happiness skyrocketed as he said "Chitoge, I'll take you anywhere you want to go today as long as it's within reason."

Shocked by everything Raku just said, Chitoge took a few seconds to reply before saying "Well… We've been pretending to be a couple for quite a while now. You should know where to take me."

"Alrighty then, let's get this date started!" Raku said enthusiastically, still overjoyed.

It was if Chitoge was watching an excited little kid; the happiness Raku was displaying might've seemed childish but it was also pure. Smiling, Chitoge commented "My, somebody sure is happy today. Could it be you're excited about our date?"

Still on cloud nine, Raku replied "You could say that. I'm feeling really great!"

Expecting some sort of nasty retort, Chitoge didn't see this coming and a blush reappeared on her face.

Taking Chitoge's hand, Raku smiled at her and said "Let's go, Chitoge."

The "couple" were out and about and, to Chitoge's knowledge, were walking to some unknown destination. Chitoge didn't dare say anything out of embarrassment and didn't want to somehow ruin this moment. Even though Chitoge was uncomfortable, butterflies were flying around in her stomach from holding Raku's hand and seeing him so happy to go on a date with her.

Raku slowly descended from the high clouds he laid upon and returned to normal. "_Oh well, it was fun while it lasted but it's also good to feel normal. I got a little carried away earlier with Chitoge but I'll still keep my word. Who knows, maybe it'll even be fun." _Raku thought to himself and added "_She hasn't said a word, did I do something wrong? Oh, I know what's wrong."_

Remembering the time Chitoge got angry when he didn't notice changes in her appearance, Raku stopped in his tracks and looked straight at Chitoge.

Surprised, Chitoge impatiently waited for a response from Raku. With a slight blush, Raku complimented Chitoge "Y-You look really p-pret- good. I mean, umm…" Raku was having a hard time expressing his thoughts. After taking a huge breath, Raku spilled it "You look really pretty today."

Not wanting to see Chitoge's reaction, Raku turned around and tried leading once again but Chitoge wouldn't budge.

"L-Look at me, Raku."

Obeying Chitoge's orders, Raku turned around and faced a crimson faced Chitoge who avoided eye contact.

"D-Did you mean it? I swear, if you're just saying it to be nice I'll pummel you!" Chitoge threatened embarrassingly.

Not wanting to get attacked this early on, Raku scratched his head and said "Just look in a mirror. Of course you look nice and-"

"You said I looked 'really pretty'." Chitoge warned.

Wanting to get things straight, Raku explained embarrassingly "Fine, I really think you look… really pretty. It's my honest feelings. Even a gorilla can be pretty from time to time."

-Whack-

After Raku called her by her least favorite nickname, she punched Raku's forehead.

Clutching his forehead from the pain, Raku yelled "What was that for?!"

"Oh, I don't know. Why don't you use your little head and figure it out, you stupid beansprout." Chitoge replied sarcastically retorted, replacing her embarrassment with her anger. After letting out an annoyed sigh, Chitoge said "Follow me for a second."

Not wanting to dig further into her bad side, Raku obeyed and ended up at a vending machine where Chitoge purchased a cold soda.

With a small blush, Chitoge looked at Raku and said with annoyance "That punch was obviously for calling me a 'gorilla'."

Putting the can in Raku's hands, Chitoge finished embarrassingly "This is for calling me, you know, 'pretty'. It's still cold so put it against your head and maybe you'll feel better."

Raku couldn't believe it. Chitoge was actually nice to him and could even be considered cute. For the first time in his life, he apologized for the nickname "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you a gorilla back there. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop calling you a gorilla but that wasn't the right time to. And thanks for the drink." When he finished speaking, he placed the drink against his forehead.

Secretly happy with Raku's apology, Chitoge replied quietly "Well, as long as you get it I guess I'll forgive you. But just this one time so don't go screwing up again." With that, Chitoge grabbed Raku's available hand and she added "Lead the way."

Eventually, they ended up at the theater.

"_Oh no. This won't work! We have completely different tastes in movies!" _Chitoge thought to herself, remembering her first fake date with Raku. They were arguing over which movie to watch with Chitoge wanting "Truck Destroyer" and Raku with "Meow".

Although Raku really wanted to see "Meow Two: The Purrfect Sequel", he decided to compromise with Chitoge's desire for action and was looking for a movie to satisfy both of their wants but then he saw…

"Meow Destroyer: Pusheen's Revenge?!" Raku yelled in utter shock at the crossover movie title.

"Awesome! Let's go see that one then!" Chitoge said happily with her eyes sparkling.

After purchasing tickets, Raku started heading towards the designated room but Chitoge stopped him.

"Wait, Raku! You know the guy is supposed to buy his date popcorn and a drink!" Chitoge protested.

Not wanting to spend more money, Raku replied "No way! Buying all of the overpriced stuff here is a pain in the a-" Chitoge gave him a deadly look that forced Raku to change the end of his sentence "I mean, of course I'll buy you popcorn and a drink. Anything for my honey."

After Raku bought popcorn and a drink for Chitoge, they ended up watching the pre-movie advertisements while talking to each other.

An idea popped in Chitoge's mind which she acted on slyly and said "Oh no! Silly Raku, you bought me a large drink and a large popcorn! There's no way I'll be able to eat and drink all of this!"

Confused, Raku replied "Huh? You were able to eat it all last time, in fact, you ate it before the movie even started. Besides, don't worry if you can't eat it all. I just wanted to make sure you got enough."

Still trying to be sly, Chitoge went on "Well, I'd hate to throw away perfectly good popcorn so, just this one time, if you want we can share."

Surprised by Chitoge's offer, Raku politely refused "Umm, no thanks. Even if I did eat it I would only get really thirsty."

"We can also share this drink, I got two straws- I mean, I also got a backup straw just in case I lost mine or something." Chitoge said, finishing a little embarrassingly.

"_That's obviously a lie." _Raku thought to himself about the backup straw. After sighing, Raku agreed "I guess I have no choice. It'd be a waste to throw away good popcorn. So… Thanks."

"You're welcome." Chitoge said happily as she put another straw into the cup.

A few minutes had passed and even though advertisements were still showing, Chitoge was enjoying herself, after all, Raku was her main attraction. Just sitting next to him, chatting with him, and sharing food and a drink with him felt really special to her. Even when the movie started, her attention was still mostly on Raku.

Over the course of the movie, Raku remembered his last experience in the theater with Chitoge. While she was asleep, gang members from both of their families pressured Raku into holding her hand. Even though it didn't end well last time, Raku had a sudden urge to try it again.

"_Why do I want to hold her hand so badly?! I mean, we do it all the time but it's just to look like a couple. M-Maybe she'll be fine if I hold her hand in here too. I'll just tell her I saw a yakuza from my family." _Raku thought to himself. Slowly, his hand started making its way for Chitoge's.

Looking at the other couples and how the girls leaned against the guys' shoulder, Chitoge got jealous and thought "_God dammit! Why can't we look like that?! Sure, I'm happy how we are now but I feel so unsatisfied at the same time… I know! I'll lean my head against him and if he asks I'll tell him I saw a mafia member from my family!" _Slowly, Chitoge tilted her head towards Raku's shoulder.

Raku made contact with Chitoge's hand the same time her head made contact with his shoulder which caused them both to panic and move away from each other.

"W-W-What do you think you're doing, Raku?!" Chitoge asked as a blush started forming.

Waving his hands in the air from panicking, Raku replied "I-It's not what it looks like! I just saw someone from my family and… Wait, why was your head on my shoulder?!"

It was Chitoge's turn to use her excuse as she replied "I saw someone from my family too, so I couldn't help it, okay?!"

Believing in his "girlfriend", Raku settled down and said "Oh, then I guess it was beyond our control."

Still wanting to push things farther, Chitoge mustered up courage as she asked "So… If it's for the sake of disguising our relationship, can I, um…"

Taking the initiative, Raku put his arm around Chitoge and secured her head on his shoulder. Looking away, Raku said quietly with a blush "It can't be helped, right?"

Even though she got her desire, Chitoge didn't expect Raku to hold her. Her blush turning crimson, Chitoge said in almost a whisper "Y-Yeah, it's completely out of our control." Wanting to take one more step forward, Chitoge went for Raku's left hand and attached it to her's, firmly interlocking her hand with his.

A few minutes passed by before Raku called her attention "Chitoge?"

"Keep your eyes on the movie. If you don't, I'll pummel you." Chitoge threatened.

Taken by surprise, Raku couldn't believe the girl he was holding would say something like that to him. "_Oh wait, she is a gorilla after all."_ Raku thought to himself. Even though he didn't want to be punched again, Raku took a risk and peeked at Chitoge and was shocked by what he saw.

Chitoge looked so comfortable when he held her. As if in a peaceful nap, Chitoge had her eyes closed and her hair was in a slight mess but there was one thing about Chitoge that made Raku's heart skip a beat: her smile. Despite the harsh words she just spoke, an innocent and pure smile rested on her face. It was a smile only a person ignorant of darkness could make. Somehow, Chitoge's almost silent breathing drowned out the audio from the movie and she occasionally made small adjustments to her position to get closer to Raku. Without warning, Chitoge's free arm wrapped around Raku which brought them closer.

Shocked would be an understatement if you asked Raku how he was feeling and he involuntarily let out a quiet gasp. Realizing his mistake, Raku moved his head in the direction of the movie screen just before Chitoge noticed.

Hearing Raku's gasp, Chitoge asked timidly "W-What? You're holding me so what's the big deal?! I think I saw Claude so we have to make our acting perfect. I have to hold you!" Chitoge said the last part more out of her own desire than anything else.

Trying to calm himself and Chitoge down, Raku replied "I know, I was just caught off guard. It's just that we've never looked like a couple this genuinely. I'm surprised at ourselves."

Happy and proud to look like a couple, Chitoge added with just a tad bit of embarrassment "Hey, we pulled off that play together at the last minute. When it comes to acting, what can't we do together? I mean, it's mostly me doing all the work because you suck at acting."

Surprised to see Chitoge talk so boldly, Raku chuckled and said "Now that's the Chitoge I know. You may have too much pride for your own good but that just stems from your ridiculous amount of confidence. I swear, once you put your mind to something nothing can stop you. But that's a quality you don't see often in others so I guess it's a good thing."

"Wait, are you complimenting my personality?" Chitoge asked, wanting to reassure that Raku did in fact compliment her.

As if confused with himself, Raku replied "Hmm, I guess I am. I'm in a good mood today so I don't mind looking at the bright sides of things."

Unable to take any more embarrassment, Chitoge took her head off of Raku's shoulder and sat upright. Still having her hand locked with his, Chitoge said quietly "I… I can only be close to a beansprout for so long. So just hold my hand for a while."

"Oh, okay." Raku replied with slight disappointment. "_Wait, why am I disappointed?"_ Raku questioned himself as a blush formed on his face.

The two refocused their attention on the movie… or at least Chitoge tried to.

Chitoge was having an inner conflict once again. "_God dammit, Chitoge! You were right there! You were pretty much cuddling with Raku and you blew it! 'I can only be close to a beansprout for so long'. I want to be close to him forever! Ugh, now I'm starting to sound like a hopeless romantic, or maybe just hopeless in general. Maybe… Maybe I can slowly get close to him. I know! I'll act like I'm stretching and I'll go from there!"_

Pretending to stretch, Chitoge kept readjusting herself so her body kept moving closer to Raku. Once she was close enough, Chitoge started to lean her shoulder against Raku's. Chitoge expected some type of response from Raku that would reassure her but he didn't show any type of response which caused her to hesitate. Chitoge's embarrassment skyrocketed until she finally snapped.

"Say something, Raku!" Chitoge raised her voice as she looked at him in the eye and what she saw something she wasn't expecting.

"R-Raku… Why are you crying?" Chitoge asked softly with surprise, worried for Raku.

Facing Chitoge, Raku's face was indeed covered in tears as he sobbed "D-Don't make fun of me! I-It's just..."

"I won't make fun of you, just tell me what's wrong." Chitoge said worriedly.

"T-THIS PART IS SO SAD!" Raku wailed, oceans of tears falling from his eyes.

"Huh?" Chitoge asked with an annoyed look on her face. Looking back at the screen, Chitoge saw the antagonist sacrifice himself to save his little sister.

Turning back to Raku, Chitoge stated "You're kidding." When she saw Raku's expression once again, it reminded her that it was no joke. This movie about cats was making Raku cry his eyes out. Thinking about how silly it sounded, Chitoge started laughing.

"H-Hey! It's not funny!" Raku yelled with tears sill pouring.

After letting out her laughter, Chitoge smirked and said "I'm sorry, but usually when it comes to things like this the girl cries while the boy comforts her. It's the other way around this time."

"Hey, guys are allowed to cry too! Besides, you didn't comfort me at all so this doesn't apply!" Raku argued.

Chitoge's smirk turned into a smile and she replied "Well, I am now. Don't cry, it'll be okay."

Surprised by Chitoge's sudden mood swing, Raku replied with a blush "Umm… Well, it's kinda too late for that. I mean, I'm not even crying anymore but I am mad at you for laughing at me."

Giggling, Chitoge was about to make a witty reply until the lights came on and a teaser for the sequel came on the screen. "_That was it?! I could have sworn that the movie started not long ago!"_ Chitoge thought to herself. She checked her phone and sure enough the movie did last for two hours.

"How did time go by that fast?!" Chitoge blurted her question out loud.

As they were exiting the theater, Chitoge thought to herself "_Well, they do say love makes time pass and for most of it we were holding hands so…_"

Once outside, Chitoge looked at Raku and asked "So, where to now, Raku?"

Gaining a big smirk, Raku replied "Just wait and see. It'll blow you away!"


	4. Roller Coaster Accident?

**Author's notes: If you've read this far, I just wanted to say thanks for reading! I'm expecting to end this with the sixth chapter. Also, if you like AMVs I make some for Youtube under the name of "YoutoberzRebirth" if you want to check them out. With that out of the way, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Where are we going?!" Chitoge asked with booming excitement.

Smirking from Chitoge's impatience, Raku replied "You'll know when we get there."

Chitoge was indeed impatient. Ever since Raku told her that their destination would "blow her away", Chitoge has been excited ever since. Annoyed from impatience, Chitoge complained "You tell me that it'll "blow me away" and then you won't tell me where we're going? That pisses me off! Knowing how lame you are it'll probably suck so why do you have to make me so excited? And would you stop holding my hand?!"

Sighing from Chitoge's rant, Raku countered Chitoge's arguments "Hey now, it's the boyfriend's job to surprise his girlfriend so I have to leave you hanging for a bit. About it being lame, sure you might think what I enjoy is lame but that won't be the case this time because I'm going off of your tastes for this. And about holding hands, you're the one who grabbed my hand in the first place so if you don't want to hold my hand then just let go."

Chitoge was about to say something in regards to "what a boyfriend's job" is to her but she felt Raku's grip on her hand loosen. Tightening her hold on Raku's hand, Chitoge said with a touch of embarrassment "We can't let go. Our families might be watching."

Since Chitoge's words conflicted to what she said previously, Raku asked "Huh? But you just said-"

"Just hold my hand, dammit! And stop making such a fuss!" Chitoge interrupted.

"You're the one who's making a fuss here!" Raku argued, getting irritated.

Turning away from Raku, Chitoge ended the short lived argument. With a touch of sadness, Chitoge thought to herself "_He was really about to let go of my hand but who can blame him? I pretty much told him to. Gosh, why do I always push him away when in the end all I want is for him to be right beside me. I want to let Raku in but I don't know how! Oh, Raku, why can't you look past what I say and do and actually see how I really feel. I really like you, dammit!"_

"Chitoge? What's wrong?"

Shocked, Chitoge snapped out of her thoughts and replied "What do you mean? I'm fine."

Looking her in the eyes, Raku replied "Stop trying to hide it. I've been with you too long to not notice when something's wrong. Is it something I did?"

Still angry with herself, Chitoge took it out on Raku "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Either way, I'm not telling you."

A few second passed with no response from Raku which prompted Chitoge to say "What?" and looked at him in the eyes. It wasn't the irritated and annoyed look she was expecting, but rather a patient and concerned look that said "_Please tell me what's wrong."_ Surrendering to Raku's persistence and her own will burning out, Chitoge looked at the ground with humility and confessed "I'm an idiot and a liar… I don't know how to be honest with others sometimes and I feel like I'm putting up a wall to block people out. I want to be close to people and yet I do everything to stop that from happening. I'm really horrible."

"Hey." Raku said while jerking her hand a little bit to get her attention. Their eyes met again which was Raku's signal to continue "You're afraid of being rejected for being your true self, aren't you? Chitoge, you already have a lot of friends that will accept you for who you really are like Tsugumi, Kosaki, maybe Marika, and… me if you want. Just try being a little more honest with others, it can't hurt."

Even though Raku didn't understand that she was only having this problem with him, Chitoge smiled and replied "Is that your way of trying to make me feel better? I guess you didn't do that bad of a job so… Thank you." Losing her smile, Chitoge asked seriously "Raku, I have one question for you. Are… Are we friends? We've been faking lovers this entire time but we've never considered our real status so… What do you think?"

"I think you're stupid." Raku replied with a hint of annoyance. After taking a deep breath, Raku finished "Of course we're friends. I mean come on, think of all the memories we've shared. If we weren't friends, I wouldn't have gotten you flowers for your birthday, I wouldn't have ran in the woods to find you, I wouldn't have made up with you before the play, I wouldn't have taken you to places today and I most certainly wouldn't have put up with you until now."

Chitoge's heart skipped a few beats. Even though Raku stated they were only friends, the fact that he could recall so many of her cherished memories at the drop of a hat made her incredibly happy. Thinking of Raku's words "_Just try being a little more honest."_, Chitoge smiled and added "I actually think we're close friends." Raku flinched and was about to say something but it was Chitoge's turn to proceed "If we weren't close friends, I wouldn't have visited you late at night at the hospital, I wouldn't have cried when you forgot me because of your amnesia, I wouldn't try make you chocolate and all of that food and you can bet I wouldn't have bailed you out all of those times when you needed help."

Although it was all surprising, the one thing Raku asked about was "Wait, you… You cried because I forgot you?"

Forgetting that Raku's memories of that event never came back, Chitoge blushed and shouted "Just forget it! I mean, don't remember it, okay?!"

"Why? Was it that bad for you that I forgot about you for a few days?" Raku questioned.

"I told you why, it's because we're close friends." Chitoge said half honestly.

"Well, what do we have here." A familiar voice called.

Looking behind, Raku and Chitoge saw Marika with a big smile on her face that tried in vain to hide her severe annoyance.

Trying to think his way out of a fight breaking loose, Raku explained "Oh, hey, Marika. Me and Chitoge were just-"

"Just walking together on our date." Chitoge finished with a devilish smirk towards Marika.

Raku could have sworn he saw a fiendish aura starting to wrap around Marika. "O-Oh, I see. Well I sure hope Raku isn't being left out of the fun." Marika shot back.

Grabbing hold of Raku's arm, Chitoge continued "Oh, don't worry. I'm personally making sure my darling is having the time of his life. Did you know there was a crossover movie between me and my darling's favorite movies? We just got done watching it and during the movie we were really close. He wouldn't even let go of my hand. Now that we're done with the movie Raku is taking me somewhere but it's a surprise. Isn't that romantic?"

Gritting her teeth, Marika replied obnoxiously "More like cheesy. So where is this lovely gentleman taking such an unpleasant gorilla today?"

Chitoge looked at Raku with impatience once again. Just wanting to get out of the situation, Raku scratched his head again and replied quickly "Oh, nowhere special. Just the amusement park."

One of Chitoge's fantasies came true. Her face lit up with pure joy since she loves the thrill of rides and how she always wanted to ride roller coasters with Raku.

While Chitoge was overjoyed, Marika's jaw dropped with surprise which quickly turned into rage. Sensing this, Raku finished quickly "Well would you look at the time. See you later, Marika!" Just like that, Raku sped off with Chitoge.

Standing alone on the sidewalk, Marika laughed diabolically and voiced her thoughts out loud "Hehehe… So yer havin fun with my fiancé, are ya? Yer goin to the amusement park with him, are ya? Well, I guess I'll have to see what kind of fun you two are really havin." With that, Marika started stalking Chitoge and Raku.

Upon arriving at the gates to the amusement park, Raku was out of breath from running while Chitoge stared at entrance with sparkling eyes.

"Wow, Raku. You actually picked somewhere decent this time! This is great!" Chitoge shouted with joy, unable to contain her happiness.

Still catching his breath, Raku panted "How… Are you… Not out of breath? Never mind… Just give me a minute… To rest."

"Mmmm?! But I wanna go in now!" Chitoge protested and looked up Raku with puppy dog eyes.

Giving in, Raku thought it was his duty as the boyfriend to toughen it out. Plus, he could rest while they waited in line. "Alright, if you want to go in so badly I guess we could enter now."

Realizing she was practically begging Raku, Chitoge looked at Raku with a forced smug impression and said "Huh? What makes you think I want to go in that badly? Maybe I just can't wait to see you mess this up." Turning away, Chitoge looked at the park with glee as her bright smile returned.

Upon entering the park, Raku and Chitoge were fighting over which ride to go on first.

"No way! I want to go on the 'Supreme Omega Thunder Coaster'!" Chitoge protested.

"If we ride that first then all the rides after that will feel downgraded! We have to save the best for last. So for now let's ride something small like… Like the swings!"

Raku's logic did make sense to Chitoge who consented. Once they got through the line they made sure their swings were right next to each other. In the air, Chitoge felt so free and weightless. It's been so long since she has rode this ride, mostly due to the fact that she only goes for the big attractions. Looking over at Raku's smiling face put an even bigger smile on her's. "_Maybe it isn't such a bad idea to let him lead." _Chitoge thought.

After they got off the ride, Raku asked Chitoge with a smile "Okay, so which ride would you like to go on next?"

Chitoge put on her annoyed expression and replied "You lead. I won't object to any of your decisions as long as they're not too lame. Also, we will eventually ride the roller coasters."

Shocked that Chitoge was making him leader again, Raku thought for a second and came up with a list of rides in his head. "So, do you want to go on the log flume?" Raku asked.

"Sure, I hope you don't mind getting wet." Chitoge teased.

On the ride, Raku sat in the very front with Chitoge right behind him. Due to the boat constantly banging against the sides of the track, Raku had the front of the boat to hold on to but Chitoge was forced to hold on to him.

"W-What are you doing?!" Raku asked, caught off by Chitoge's hold on him.

"Shut up! I have to hold on to something here! I'm being thrown left and right!" Chitoge argued as a blush started forming. Once the final drop came, Chitoge wasn't used to falling without a seat belt so she clung to Raku tightly. In the process, Chitoge used Raku as a shield from the giant splash that was made.

"Aww man! I'm soaked!" Raku complained as he felt cold from the water.

Placing her hands on Raku's shoulders, Chitoge started laughing. Raku turned around to say something nasty but once he saw the joy on Chitoge's face he couldn't help but smile and laugh along with her.

After he log flume, the two enjoyed various rides together, one being the bumper cars and during the whole ride Raku was racing away from Chitoge whose car seemed to go faster than everybody else's.

"That's not fair! Your car is rigged to go faster than mine!" Raku yelled as Chitoge was seconds away from hitting him.

"Kaboom!" Chitoge shouted with an evil smile as soon as she crashed into Raku.

After what felt like being in an actual car wreak on a children's ride, Raku walked off the ride and complained "Ouch… For a ride that was pretty painful."

"Complaining from getting a little hurt on a kid's ride? My, Raku, you are pathetic." Chitoge teased.

Annoyed and tired, Raku said "Shut up. Anyways, I'm hungry so let's take a break to eat."

They went to a little food shack and ordered together. Thinking they were going to split the bill, Chitoge took her wallet out of her pocket once the cashier asked for cash. Raku gently pushed Chitoge's hand which held her wallet down and paid for the entire meal himself. Once they sat down, Raku started eating while Chitoge starred at her food.

"Why aren't you eating? You can't be full from eating popcorn." Raku said once he noticed Chitoge wasn't eating.

"You… You didn't have to pay for me. I can take care of myself." Chitoge answered with irritation in her voice.

"If you wanted to take care of yourself you shouldn't have forced me to buy you food at the theater. Besides, it's not like I'm expecting you to pay me back for this. There's no catch, so just eat." Raku replied.

Looking down with disappointment in herself, Chitoge murmured "It's not that. It's just… I feel bad. You bought the movie tickets, the popcorn, and admission to this park. You're spending so much money on the both of us and I haven't spent a penny."

"Isn't that how it's supposed to be? The guy is supposed to be the one to pay for everything." Raku replied. An idea popped in his head so he crossed his arms and said "Here's the deal. If you won't eat neither will I."

"W-What?! Hey, that's not fair! Are you trying to make me feel guilty?!" Chitoge argued.

"If it gets you to eat, then yes." Raku smiled softly and went on "I would feel guilty if I went on stuffing myself while you sat there without eating."

The thought of Raku being concerned meant a lot to Chitoge. Picking up a French fry, Chitoge murmured "Fine, but it's not like I'm doing this for you or anything. I just don't want perfectly good food to go to waste." With that, Chitoge started digging in like she usually would which put a smile on Raku's face.

After the two finished eating, Chitoge found her happiness once again and said with enthusiasm "Let's go on the roller coaster now!"

Since some time had passed and it was getting closer to sunset, Raku finally agreed and they got in line for the roller coaster.

"Why is there a one hour wait?! This is your fault, Raku. It's never like this when I come with anybody else!" Chitoge complained.

"Hey, this was your idea! No use in whining about it now since we're in line." Raku retorted.

Examining her surroundings, Chitoge thought "_Sheesh, who does this beansprout think he is! He's acting like I'm a child and… And why are there so many couples in line?! And why should I feel jealous?! I do want us to look like that, all lovey dovey and stuff but why do I crave it so much?!"_

Chitoge would have gone deeper into her thoughts had it not been that a familiar sensation that came from her hand. Looking over at Raku for an explanation, Chitoge asked with a blush "W-What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm holding your hand of course. We have to look like a couple, right? Besides…" Raku went on with a slight blush "You looked upset again so, you know."

Chitoge kept looking at Raku for him to finish his statement but he never did. Looking away, Chitoge murmured "Geez, you think holding my hand will make me feel better? Honestly, you're so dumb. But…" Remembering when she almost lost the warmth of Raku's hand earlier, she interlocked her fingers with his and added "But that doesn't mean you can let go now."

"Huh?" Raku questioned but once he saw Chitoge's red face he became speechless and self-conscious.

Not too far behind in line, Marika stalked Raku and Chitoge and quickly became ridiculously jealous. People who waited in line around her could have sworn her hair was blazing and were eyes were blood lust red.

"Hey, say something, Raku. You haven't said anything for like ten minutes." Chitoge said quietly, unable to handle the awkwardness.

"Why am I always the one who has to say something? You're the one with the big mouth." Raku replied, still self-conscious about the whole thing.

With her embarrassment turning into anger, Chitoge spoke "Seriously, you're the worst boyfriend ever. Making me do all of the talking and such. Man up would you!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I can't hear you over the sound of me paying for everything and guiding us the whole day." Raku retorted, getting equally as mad.

"You stupid beansprout!"

"You loud mouthed gorilla!"

Chitoge let go of Raku's hand and started shouting "Why are you always picking a fight with me?! You never act this way with Kosaki or Marika!"

Crossing his arms, Raku retorted "Well maybe it's because they're actually kind and considerate to me. Besides, I never see you argue with anyone else either, not counting Marika."

Speaking of Marika, the sudden fight that she witnessing filled her with glee.

After taking a deep breath to calm herself down, Chitoge sighed "Maybe we were born just to bicker with each other."

Sensing Chitoge's sudden sadness, Raku tried as hard as he could to push past his frustration. Sighing as well, Raku said quietly "Even if that is true, that just means we're special to each other. Besides, it's not all bad, you know."

With that, the two grew silent again although the words "_We're special to each other. It's not all bad,"_ started to make her feel better and eventually she was the happy girl she usually is. Once again, Chitoge started to wear a smile on her face and made conversation with Raku until they finally got through the entire line and onto the rollercoaster. The two sat in the very front and, unknown to them, Marika sat in the very back.

While going up the lift hill, Chitoge wore an enormous smile while Raku had a nervous smile.

Looking over at her scared darling, Chitoge smirked and teased "You're such a chicken, darling. You don't need to be scared."

Sweating and being too proud for his own good, Raku replied "Ha! I'm not scared of something like this. I could ride this in my sleep."

"Good." Chitoge replied simply and look away from Raku with a devilish smile.

When the coaster was just about at the peak of the lift hill, Chitoge went through with her devious plan. Taking out a few rusted bolts, Chitoge put on a fake panicking face and wailed "Oh my god! Raku! All of these bolts just came undone from the coaster!"

Looking over at Chitoge, Raku did in fact see a bunch of rusted bolts in her hands and Chitoge looked terrified. Falling for the prank, Raku screamed before going down the hill "Oh my god! Wait, no! WAAAAAAAAH-"

While Raku was fearing for his dear life, Chitoge couldn't help but burst into laughter during the entire ride but Raku couldn't hear it. Once the ride came to an end, Raku was breathing very heavily while Chitoge was still laughing her heart out.

"W-What the hell's so funny?! We could've… Wait, that was a prank, wasn't it?!" Raku yelled, realizing he was fooled in the harshest of ways.

"Haha! Got you!" Chitoge teased with a huge smile on her face.

When they got off the ride, they noticed that the paramedics actually had to rush someone on the ride to the hospital although Raku and Chitoge didn't see who it was.

"Take me with you." Raku said almost breathlessly, regarding the person being taken to the hospital.

After walking through the exit, Raku looked at the sun going down and yawned "Well, it was a good day but it's time to go now."

"Wait! One more! There's one more ride that I really want to go on!" Chitoge protested passionately.

Caught off guard by Chitoge's sudden plea, Raku asked "Well, which one is it? Is it going to give me a heart attack and land me in the hospital?"

Getting quiet, Chitoge blushed and murmured "The… Ferris Wheel."

Once the two got in line for the Ferris Wheel, Raku examined the ride and thought "_This ride huh. I wonder why Chitoge wants to ride this one. She's into rides that can almost make my heart stop so why make this the last ride of the day."_ Looking over at Chitoge, Raku also noticed that she was shaking a little bit and seemed nervous.

"What?! You can take on all the thrill rides but this one makes you scared?!" Raku asked in disbelief.

"Sh-Shut up!" Chitoge replied, putting on an angry face. Before Raku could reply, Chitoge grabbed his hand and added "I'm not scared, just excited. That's all."

The two got into their compartment and sat across from each other. Glass blocked outside noises from getting in and more importantly their voices from getting out. To Chitoge, even though they were in public and people could see them somewhat, they were alone together. With that knowledge, Chitoge started blushing again.

"What's wrong with your face? Are you sick or something?" Raku asked.

Chitoge thought that Raku was making fun of her but once she looked at him she could see concern on his face.

"N-No. Just a little lightheaded is all." Chitoge replied quietly.

"You shouldn't have come on this ride if feel that way then! Honestly, you can be really rash sometimes." Raku lectured.

Getting tired of covering things up, Chitoge told the truth "Okay! I'm just really nervous about being alone with you like this!"

Caught by surprise, Chitoge's words sank into Raku who came to a conclusion that hurt him deep down.

"So… You're not comfortable with me?" Raku asked slowly and painfully.

Sensing the pain in his voice, Chitoge panicked "Wait, no! That's not what I meant. I'm completely comfortable with you- I mean, I don't mind it too much if you're in my presence. It's just… I'm excited. This is the first time I've been on Ferris Wheel with someone. You better feel lucky for being the first person I share this kind of experience with!"

Believing in Chitoge's words, Raku felt relieved but a thought came to his head "_Wait, why was I sad in the first place?_" Looking out the window, Raku shouted with amazement "Chitoge, look!"

What Chitoge and Raku saw was incredible. The sky became golden with different shades of orange as the sun rested on the horizon.

"Wow, it looks so amazing!" Chitoge said full of wonder. Taken over by the moment, Chitoge moved to sit beside Raku and placed her head on his shoulder again.

Neither of them said a word to each other which surprised Chitoge since Raku didn't react to her resting against him. Finally, Raku said "Chitoge, are you okay?"

Still gazing at the sunset, Chitoge replied "Yeah, I'm feeling just fine. Why do you ask?"

Taking a moment to think his words through, Raku replied "You've been clinging to me all day and-"

"Is there anything wrong with that?" Chitoge's question cut Raku off.

Once Chitoge turned to face Raku, he saw a face that he had never seen before. Chitoge's soft smile was full of content and seemed she was as comfortable as she could be. Usually she would give a sharp retort and get as far away from Raku as she could, but not this time. The mood felt so right and Chitoge didn't want that ruined again, especially with the spectacular view.

"Well, I guess not since we're 'dating' in a sense." Raku mumbled from uneasiness.

"Then if we're 'dating', be a good boyfriend and hold me." Chitoge softly said.

"Good grief, it's so hard to read you, you know that? I can't tell whether you want me to end up in the hospital or if you want to hold me." Raku sighed, but put one arm around Chitoge's shoulder regardless.

"It's definitely the hospital choice as long as I'm the one who causes it… and if I'm with you when you're recovering." Chitoge whispered as a blush started forming.

"Chitoge?" Raku said in surprise.

"You said you will accept me for who I really am, right? So I can be honest with you and tell you anything, right?" Chitoge asked as her heart started beating faster from what she was about to do.

"Well, of course I will." Raku replied honestly, getting serious.

Looking down at the floor, Chitoge said hesitantly "I have to tell you something, Raku. But first you have to promise not to make fun of me or laugh… And you have to promise you'll believe what I'm about to say, no matter what I told you in the past or what I'll tell you in the future. Promise me."

"I promise." Raku replied truthfully.

After taking a deep breath, Chitoge looked at Raku and confessed "I don't hate you like I say I do. Sure, you irritate the hell out of me but it's not as bad as I make it out to be. The truth is that I cherish the time we spend together. Every day feels like an adventure when I'm with you and it makes my heart race. I know I can be tough to handle sometimes but… I need you, Raku. You gave me strength in face of my greatest fears and found me when I was all alone and terrified. You mean a lot to me and I can't lose you. When I was acting cold to you and turned down the Juliet role, my heart was shattering. I lost myself because I forced you out of my life and I can't go through that again. What I'm saying is that I…"

Raku was listening intently to Chitoge's words and was utterly speechless. Before Chitoge could finish, the headache returned but it was on a different level than before. Feeling like his head was splitting in two, Raku yelled out in agony until he passed out.

"_Ugh… Where am I?" _Raku asked himself, taking in his dark surroundings. There was darkness in all directions but then he saw a small source of light. Raku didn't have to move towards it because it was already getting closer and closer to him. Looking closely, Raku could make out a young boy from within the light.

"Who are you and where am I?!" Raku asked, taking a step back.

The boy responded with a voice that Raku was too familiar with "Well, where we are is a mystery to me but as for who I am, I'm the past that you've long forgotten."

The light dimmed and Raku could make out more of the boy and was startled by what he saw.

The boy chuckled and continued to talk "Oh, and this may be a dream but that doesn't mean that I'm not real. I know everything about you, Raku. I am supposed to be you, but then you forgot about me."

Pointing at the boy, Raku said in almost a whisper "You're… You're me."


	5. End Of Nightmares

**Author's Notes: Well this has been a hectic week. Nisekoi fans rejoice! Season 2 has been confirmed! Also, chapter 142... I'll let you read the first page to see for yourself. I would've updated earlier but I've been so addicted to the new Super Smash game. Sorry! Also, Naruto fans... Let's cry our hearts out from the end being in sight (in 5 weeks). Let's all walk into the sunset with youth! With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"You're… You're me."

The setting changed from darkness to an empty field with dark clouds hanging overhead and a ghastly gale of wind.

Smirking, younger Raku chuckled "Surprised? I guess you would be. As I said before, we may be inside of your own head but this is reality."

Completely lost, Raku started taking in his new surroundings as he asked "What is that supposed to mean? You can't tell me that this is anything besides another one of those irritating dreams."

Closing his eyes, the younger Raku replied "You're wrong. The dreams before were just small flashbacks from the memories that you forgot not too long ago, but this time is different. Like I said, I remember things that you don't including your early childhood."

Raku thought about the dreams he's had lately and it brought him back to the first one where Chitoge was crying. Then as if it just came back to him, Raku remembered that moment with Chitoge as her voice finally reached him "_Last year, when I learned that we had met ten years ago, I was happy! It felt like destiny and my heart beat faster! But I don't care about that anymore! I don't care if I'm not the girl you made that promise with! Just remember me, you stupid beansprout! Listen to my voice right now and remember!_"

"'Remember...'" Raku echoed Chitoge's words as he finally remembered that day. Raku had doubts about his younger self but not too long ago, Chitoge accidentally said that she cried when he forgot her. Going back to the topic of his childhood, Raku asked "Wait, so you remember the day I lost my memories when I was a kid?"

Nodding, younger Raku lost his smirk and shuddered "Yes. That day you, no, I was kidnapped and tortured by another group of yakuza."

Back in reality, Raku was immediately rushed to a hospital with Chitoge by his side. Chitoge sent out texts to their small group of friends and within the hour Shuu, Kosaki, and Tsugumi showed up but Yui was still on a business trip and Ruri was out of town as well. The doctors said Raku was in no immediate danger, however, they still did not know the cause of his mental agony.

"Raku…" Chitoge whispered silently. She had been with him the entire day and her main objective was to somehow help Raku but in the end she felt terribly guilty. Suddenly, Chitoge said to the group "This is… my fault."

"Chitoge, don't say that!" Kosaki interjected.

Disregarding Kosaki's comment, Chitoge's felt pain in her heart as she continued "I wanted to spend time with him today. I wanted him to tell me what was wrong. I wanted to help, but I… I made our date about having fun. I shouldn't have-"

"Don't worry, Chitoge. I'm sure you did your best to make Raku feel better." Shuu interrupted Chitoge and continued "I think what Raku needed was a hectic day rather than a day sitting down somewhere discussing what may or may not be wrong because even Raku doesn't know. But I think I do."

Everyone started looking at Shuu for further explanation. Closing his eyes, Shuu started "Raku has lost his memories twice. You are all well aware of the time he got hit with the baseball and fortunately he got his memories back afterward, however, that wasn't the case the first time he lost his memories. Me and Raku are really close so he told me a secret he probably hasn't told any of you. Since it's important to this situation, I'll tell you but you can't spread this around. Do you understand?"

Everyone was absorbing the words Shuu was saying and nodded their heads in agreement. Taking a deep breath, Shuu started "When Raku was young, he was out exploring when he was abducted by a hostile yakuza group. When Raku's father found him, he was so badly beaten they didn't think he'd make it but by some miracle Raku pulled through but suffered amnesia that he never recovered from. That explains why he remembers Yui and Marika because they were still around in his life after the abduction took place. Anyways, his memories from those events never came back and you could say there are two different Rakus, one with his early childhood memories and the Raku we have today."

Tsugumi was the first to cut Shuu off "Wait, what do you mean by 'two different Rakus'? Aren't they just the same person but one is gone from his memories forever?"

Shuu scratched his head and explained "Well… basically. In fact, that's a great way of looking at it but there's just one flaw. The memories from back then aren't gone forever. In fact, those memories created a totally different Raku and he's starting to come back."

"'A different Raku'? 'Come back'? What do you mean?" Kosaki asked who was shocked from all of the information. It was hard to swallow for anyone but she believed in her friend.

Trying to think of a way to explain it, Shuu used an example "There's this student who goes to a private law school in Tokyo who got hit by a motorcycle and got retrograde amnesia as a result. He went about his new life and formed new memories but after a while the old memories started coming back, but there was a catch. When his old memories came back, he lost his new memories so he continued to fight his old memories away in order to keep his new ones and eventually his new memories won. What I'm saying is that I think Raku is fighting his other self to keep his current memories. If our Raku loses, he'll forget everything besides his childhood memories that happened before the abduction."

There was silence in the room that lasted a while until Chitoge asked with fear "H-How do you know this has to do with his amnesia. It could be something else, anything else! Do you even know how farfetched that sounds?!" Secretly, Chitoge was afraid of Shuu being right.

Shuu sighed, knowing Chitoge didn't want to believe it but she did bring up a good question and so he responded "Raku has been telling me that's he's been having weird dreams lately. What happened in those dreams are some of the things that happened when he had amnesia not too long ago. Also, Raku texted me earlier today about a dream he had and in it he was defending you from a wolf which I know actually happened because his father told me a long time ago. Memories that should have been forgotten are coming back. Raku is having dreams about the other Raku's memories and ever since then he's been having these mental battles to stay in control."

"No… That can't be true." Chitoge whispered and started shaking from fear.

Everyone looked over at Chitoge only to see the girl on the verge of tears.

"That can't happen… Raku can't just forget about all of the times we've all shared with him. That beansprout, that stupid beansprout can't…"

"This is your fault!" A familiar voice shouted.

Everyone looked at the doorway to see a new visitor, Marika, who was in a hospital gown and was crying.

Before anyone could react, Marika started pointing at Chitoge and continued to shout "I heard what Raku told Shuu that day! Raku only gets like this when you're around him! Even his dreams are about you! Every time Raku is in pain, it's been related to you!"

If words could throw punches, then Marika's words would've punched straight through Chitoge. It was true that Raku had some head trauma when Chitoge was around but she didn't know that it was only when she was there. Chitoge looked at Shuu for some kind of explanation but she got her answer when Shuu looked back with pity. This was all too much for Chitoge who started yelling to herself "_I'm the one who's hurting Raku?! I just… I just want him to be happy with me but that's impossible now! Now there's no situation where I can't hurt him! This isn't fair! I… To me.. Beansprout is… I…" _Tears started falling like cold icicles crashing against the floor.

"I LOVE RAKU!" Chitoge screamed at the top of her lungs before she dashed out of the room.

The room grew silent once again after Chitoge left. Even though she fully believed Chitoge was hurting Raku, seeing her cry like that made Marika's heart hurt and started feeling regret.

"I'm sorry." Marika apologized and continued "I didn't mean to sound so harsh. I was just... I'm scared too."

Back in Raku's mind, the younger Raku was describing the events of the night he was captured, "It was horrible. Every time I spoke I was beaten, every time my stomach growled from hunger I was beaten, and every time they heard me breathing I was beaten. Even if I made no sound at all they made up excuses to beat me. One the third day, I was beaten so bad that I was bleeding from the head and I passed out. Then _you _woke up in the hospital, forgetting all of the pain and suffering, along with all of my memories."

To the older Raku, it seemed like his younger self was bitter to the bone. Then, the younger Raku gritted his teeth and shouted "Do you think it's fair that you got to live such a carefree life after what I've been through?! Even after all that suffering, I was still trapped as your prisoner! You took over and left me here to slowly fade away! But I won't disappear! I'm here to take back what's rightfully mine!"

Even though he was a kid, this younger Raku actually terrified the older Raku who said "Woah, hey, just calm down… Huh?" Raku looked at his body which was becoming transparent and started glowing. "What's happening to me?!" Raku shouted in fear.

Regaining his composure, the younger Raku smirked "You're disappearing just like I did a long time ago, but this time you won't come back!"

Feeling his strength leaving his body, the current Raku saw everything starting to fade away as he started blacking out. Everything became icy cold.

"_Am I really going to disappear? Am I…"_

Everything almost became pitch black until he heard a familiar voice.

"_Hey there, Raku._"

Suddenly, Raku's hand started to feel warm.

"_Chitoge?" _Raku thought to himself, knowing for sure who the voice was.

In reality, it was midnight and everyone had gone home, everyone except for Chitoge who returned to Raku's side. Holding Raku's hand, Chitoge started to say "I'm sorry out date didn't end well. It was a lot of fun, you know, watching that movie, riding all those rides, and especially messing with you on that roller coaster." Chitoge giggled before continuing "Now that I think about it, you're here a lot. You came here when you had amnesia and you were also here when you had appendicitis. I guess I'm here a lot too when I come visit you. Honestly, you have the worst luck, stupid beansprout… Hey, Raku… I just wanted to say I'm sorry. You're only in here right now because of me, aren't you? I don't know understand why but me being with you causes you pain, wait, what am I talking about? Ever since the beginning I've punched you, kicked you, beat you to a bloody pulp. I've also caused you a lot of trouble. It's not surprising that it turned out like this." Tears started falling as Chitoge went on "For your sake, I don't think I should be with you for a while. At least until you're cured. Until then… Promise me that you won't forget about me, or Kosaki, or Tsugumi or Shuu, or Ruri, or Haru, or… Or Marika, or anyone else. Come back to me as your stupid self. Hey, when this is all over, treat me to ramen, okay? Take me to the amusement park again, no, take me anywhere. As long as it's with you it doesn't matter. Until then, I just wanted to say,"

"_I love you, Raku_." Raku heard everything Chitoge said. Even though he was in a dream, Chitoge's words seemed so real and true. Without warning, Raku's cheek started feeling warm and to his surprise he saw Chitoge starting to fade into his dream and she had her lips against his cheek. Once her lips left, Chitoge whispered "Zawsze in love." Just like that, Chitoge faded away like a ghost but her warmth stayed with Raku.

Feeling empowered, Raku had strong thoughts "_That's right, I can't disappear. If I do then I won't be able to see Chitoge or anyone else. That's why…"_

Raku's body glowed as he returned to the same empty fields he was at before but this time sunshine and blue skies hung overhead. Pointing at his younger self, Raku shouted "I won't disappear!"

Frustration and fury engulfed the younger Raku as he shouted "Why?! I don't understand! My will should be stronger than yours! You should have vanished by now! Why are you back?!"

"Because a loud mouth gorilla asked me to stay." Raku replied. Even though he didn't shout or scream, Raku's words had a strong impact on his younger self.

"W-Why?! Why did she choose you over me?!" The younger Raku cried. Tears started falling as the younger Raku continued "I still remember her from a long time ago so why is she choosing somebody who forgot about her?!"

Looking at his younger self with pity, Raku started walking closer to him and said "Sometimes it's not about what happened in the past, it's about the present. You were listening to her when she said she didn't care about the past and that all she wanted from me is to remember who she was to me right now."

Clutching his fists, the younger Raku roared "So I'm nothing to everybody now?! What the hell was my existence for all of this time?!"

Wrapping his arms around his younger self, Raku smiled "That's not what I'm saying. We're both pieces needed to make a puzzle whole. So you don't need to disappear and be forgotten.' Just be me, because you're a part of me too.'"

The younger Raku's rage was quelled as he finally surrendered to the current Raku.

"I swear… You watch too much _Naruto_…" The younger Raku whispered, letting his tears flow freely.

Letting out a small laugh, Raku replied "That doesn't mean much coming from someone who's watched it with me the entire time."

What seemed like a few minutes had passed in Raku's mind and the younger Raku stopped crying to say "You know, this isn't the first time I contacted you. Remember that time you shouted at Chitoge two days ago?"

Thinking back, Raku did hear a voice inside of his head that matching his younger form's voice. Wondering about younger Raku's feelings, Raku asked "Did I like Chitoge back then? Was… Was she the one I made the promise with?"

Smirking, the younger Raku replied "You'll have to wait until you wake up until you find out. That's when you should have my memories as well. We'll finally be the true _Raku_. Oh yeah, didn't we cause someone trouble today? Someone who wanted to you to take them out again as soon as possible? How are we going to make it up to her?"

Scratching his cheek, Raku replied "We'll find a way. She said she didn't want me to be around her until I was cured. Geez, when that's at stake I sure got cured fast."

All of a sudden, everything around Raku started becoming brighter until he realized everything was fading to white. The dream was coming to an end.

Before the dream ended, the younger Raku asked "Before we wake up, I want to ask you something while we're still split apart. Tell me, who do you like now?"

Taking a second to think, Raku replied "You know, for the longest time I thought Kosaki was the one I wanted to be with. But now, I realize that Chitoge is the one who holds the key to my heart. No one's ever made me feel so alive in my life."

With the dream almost at an end, the younger Raku smiled wide and said "I feel the same way. But there's just one thing. She doesn't 'hold the key to our heart' just yet."

Everything had faded into white and suddenly Raku woke up in his hospital room. Looking at this clock, it said 5:30 in the morning.

"Good thing it's still the weekend, because I still have some business to take care of." Raku spoke to himself.


	6. Feelings Heard

Memories flooded in all once for Raku and it was an interesting experience for Raku. All of the questions Raku had regarding the girl he made the promise to finally became clear. Getting up from his bed, Raku felt a little light headed but decided to go through with his escape plan regardless. Walking towards the door, Raku was going to sneak his way out of the hospital but a silhouette of a person appearing outside the door thwarted his plans.

"_Shit! My only option is to escape through the window!"_ Raku thought fast as he opened the window and rushed out of it. The only flaw in his plan was he didn't think his room would be any higher than the first floor. As if time slowed down, Raku looked below as he said faintly "Nobody told me I was on the third floor." With a smile full of panic on his face, Raku descended and had a rough landing on a bush. Even though the bush protected Raku from the worst of the fall, it was still very painful landing on it.

"Ow… I think I just used about a year's worth of luck on that jump." Raku said painfully but thankfully.

"RAKU!" A voice called from above.

In this situation, Raku would normally run away to continue his escape but he recognized the voice.

Looking up to the window he just fell from, Raku shouted "Marika?! What are you doing here and why are you in a hospital gown?!"

Leaping out the window, Marika shouted "Imma comin', Raku!"

"WAHH-" Raku screamed until Marika fell on top of him. Marika's fall caused a lot of pain for Raku while she was somehow unharmed.

Making things worse, Marika started shaking Raku viciously as she wailed "Wha' do ya think you were doin'?! Tha' fall coulda' killed ya!"

Losing strength, Raku managed to say "Well, if falling out a window didn't kill me, I thought someone falling on top of me from the same height would've finished the job. Hehe." From the pain and lightheadedness, Raku felt a little loopy.

When Raku made Marika realize that she caused more harm, she started crying rivers as she apologized "I'm sorry, Raku! I didn' mean ta hurt ya! Lets get ya back inside so them doctors can fix ya!"

Starting to snap out of his loopyness, Raku replied "I jumped out of a window to get out of that place. Plus, a certain somebody fell on top of me once I got out. There's no chance in hell I'm going back just yet."

Regaining her composure, Marika stopped shaking Raku and moved next to him rather than stay on top of him and Raku used this opportunity to sit up right next to Marika. Remembering an earlier question, Raku asked "So why are you in that hospital gown?"

-Flashback-

Marika was in the far back of the rollercoaster, away from Raku and Chitoge who were in front.

Nearing the top, Marika thought with pride "_Haha! I've been following them all day and neither that gorilla nor my beloved Raku noticed me! They didn't even see me get on this rollercoaster… Wait a second_…" Once the rollercoaster reached the top and was moments away from dropping down, Marika had a realization that she spoke aloud "I've never been on a rollercoaster before." Unfortunately, Marika's weak body couldn't handle the intensity of the ride and had to be rushed to a hospital.

-End of flashback-

Back in reality, Marika answered nervously "Well, let's just say I can't handle rollercoasters that well."

Something clicked in Raku's mind and he remembered there was a person who was rushed to the hospital who rode the rollercoaster the same time that he did.

"Wait, I think I was on the same ride as you! Wow, that's really freaky!" Raku shouted in surprise.

Not thinking Raku would've come to the right conclusion, Marika defended herself "No! It's not like that! If we did happen to ride the rollercoaster at the same it would've been a coincidence! I would never stalk you on your date with Chitoge!"

During her shouts, Marika realized something very important. Becoming serious, Marika asked "Wait, does that mean you remember yesterday?"

Puzzled, Raku replied "Well, yeah. It's not like I have amnesia again or anything."

Relief took over as a soft smile rested on Marika's face. Starting to stand up, Marika said "Ah, I see. Anyways, I intend on staying at the hospital until they release me so I'll be heading back. It was nice seeing you, Raku."

Getting up as well, Raku replied "Umm, it was nice to see you too, Marika. See you later."

As Raku started walking away, Marika thought "_It looks like the Raku we know hasn't left us. I'm so glad! After forgetting me twice now, I don't know how I would react if he forgot me a third time. Thanks for coming back, Raku._" Marika turned away and started making her way back.

Turning around, Raku looked at Marika's back and thought "_Did Marika somehow know that I could've lost my memories again?"_

Walking along a sidewalk, Raku thought embarrassingly "_Wearing this hospital gown out in public is so embarrassing! It's a good thing it's still dark out or else I would be sneaking my way around. I should probably go home first to get dressed in my own clothes. Plus, I have to get those two things."_

Finally reaching his house, Raku snuck around to avoid the uproar that his yakuza family would cause because of his recovery. Inside of his room, he got dressed in some casual clothes and put his locket around his neck.

"Okay, one more thing to get." Raku told himself. Sneaking once more, he entered the storehouse and started searching until he heard a familiar voice.

"It's good to see you out of the hospital, Raku."

Continuing to search, Raku whispered "Shh, don't say it so loud, dad. I don't want to deal with the other guys yet."

Laughing, Raku's father replied "No need to worry about them, boy. They're all still soundly sleeping. Anyways, what brings you here?"

Stopping his search, Raku thought his words over carefully and said "I'm looking for the 'sun'." Raku didn't expect his father to understand but was surprised by his reaction.

"Oh? So you've finally remembered?" Raku's father questioned.

"Yeah, I've been through a lot lately but I think now I know what I want to do." Raku replied to his father with a smile.

Smiling in return, Raku's father took the necklace off of his neck and revealed a key that was hiding underneath his shirt. Walking towards Raku, the old man reminisced aloud "You know, your mother and I made a promise like you did. We were also separated for many years but our promise brought us back together. I hope 'the sun' and the locket can bring you happiness, just like it did for me."

Raku's father handed the necklace over to Raku who accepted it while saying "Thanks, dad. I have to go see someone now so I'll see you later."

After Raku left, his old man thought "_Now I wonder who he's gonna choose."_

Sneaking out of his house, Raku noticed the night sky started becoming less dark. Looking up at the crescent moon, Raku thought to himself "_I'm coming."_

In a certain girl's bedroom, the windows were left open to welcome the chilly air in and the girl couldn't find peace with her thoughts of a certain person depriving her of sleep.

"Raku…" Chitoge called out to him in a quiet voice. Despite what she told him earlier, the thing she wanted the most was to see him and be with him. It hurt her so much to put distance between her and the person she loves and that's what landed her in her current state. Wanting, almost needing the comfort of Raku and yet she must stay away for his sake.

"Raku…" Chitoge called out again. Remembering that Raku could lose all of his memories of her, tears started falling from her eyes and she whispered in pain "Raku..."

"You called?" Chitoge heard a familiar voice say.

Looking over at the window she left opened, Chitoge's heart skipped a beat and she heard a voice inside of her head "_He always comes when I cry."_

"Beansprout?!" Chitoge asked in disbelief.

"Hey there, gorilla." Raku replied with a smile on his face.

Chitoge wanted nothing but to run over to Raku and wrap her arms around him for an eternity but she held back this desire and just stood up beside her bed instead. "Why are you here?" Chitoge asked quietly, still dumbfounded by his arrival.

"Well, I came here to see you." Raku replied simply, taking a step closer to her.

"Stay away!" Chitoge almost shouted, noticing Raku's small advance.

Startled by her sudden outburst, Raku asked "W-What's wrong? I mean I'm sorry for sneaking up here but I thought you wanted to see me."

Protecting her feelings, Chitoge hid behind false anger as she said "What makes you think I wanted to see you? In the end, all I do is hurt you so just stay away!"

"What are you talking about? Sure you punch me sometimes but it isn't that bad." Raku tried calming Chitoge but was ignorant of her words' true meaning.

After thinking about whether or not to tell Raku, Chitoge let it out "Shuu told us about when you lost your memories when you were little. He also told us about how you could lose your memories now and we all know that it's related to me somehow."

This was surprising for Raku but it made sense when he related that to what happened with Marika earlier when she seemed to know about Raku almost losing his memories again.

Although it was a surprise, Chitoge knowing everything made it easier for Raku to explain as he said "That's only because you were a big part of my life back then and even now. The old Raku was desperately trying to take over just so he could be with you again."

"Then… You are…" Chitoge's voice was shaking from fear, not wanting the Raku she knew to be gone.

Smiling, Raku joked "Don't worry. I could never forget that crazy stunt you pulled on that rollercoaster yesterday."

All of Chitoge's fearful thoughts ceased as she looked at Raku with a loss for words. Raku took this opportunity to prove he still retains his memories "How can I forget the days you poisoned me with your ridiculous lunches, or on April Fools day when you got me good with saying five hundred members of your mafia were watching us, or the time you climbed the outside of the hospital just to get to visit me late at night? I may have forgotten them once for a few days but I could never forget them forever. I am your stupid beansprout after all."

"Raku…" Chitoge managed to say as tears she earlier repressed flowed freely once more. Without a word, Chitoge gave into her desires as she dashed towards Raku and flung her arms tightly around him. "You idiot! You stupid, idiot, moron! You stupid beansprout!" Chitoge cried into Raku's chest.

"Well you're still a loud mouthed gorilla… I'm sorry that I worried you." Raku replied, comforting Chitoge by wrapping his arms around her.

The two stayed like that with Chitoge crying for the next few minutes. When she finally stopped crying, Chitoge lifted her head to look up at Raku and asked "Is it over? Is everything going to go back to normal?"

"Well, I don't know if things will go back to being normal after this because there's one more thing we need to do." Raku replied, letting go of Chitoge and taking out his pendant.

Looking at his pendant, Chitoge gasped "W-What are you talking about, Raku?! Do you mean you want to try opening it again?! It's still supposed to be broken from last time!"

While it was true that Raku did tell the group that his locket was still broken, that was only a cover up to prevent Marika from trying to open it. Trying to cover up what he told Chitoge, Raku replied "Well, I umm… Got it fixed recently."

"I can tell you're lying." Chitoge threatened, who went from being startled to angry.

Just trying to move on, Raku said "Alright! The pendant was never really broken! The point is, we can open it now so are you with me on this or not? I just want to check to see if you pendant will open it. I've been in suspense ever since we first tried opening it over a year ago!"

Losing her sudden anger, Chitoge held a hand over her heart from fear, fear of not being the promised girl but of course she couldn't tell Raku that. Not wanting to face her fears, Chitoge came up with an excuse "Well, you see… I lost my key somewhere in this big mansion so I cant-"

"It's wrapped around your neck." Raku interrupted, pointed at her key.

After everything that had happened in the last twenty four hours, Chitoge completely forgot that it was wrapped around her neck. In truth, Chitoge didn't have it on her during the date but held it close along with her gorilla plushie during the night to comfort her.

"O-Oh, would you look at that! It's been around my neck this whole time, hehe." Chitoge nervously said with a forced laugh.

Noticing Chitoge's nervousness, Raku added "Nobody is forcing you, Chitoge. I'm sorry if I came out to be a little aggressive just a second ago about opening the locket. If you don't want to do it, that's fine with me."

Hearing this only inched Chitoge closer to try opening the locket as she thought to herself "_Why is Raku so hung up on opening that thing?! I do want to be the one to open it but… What if my key doesn't work? After liking him for so long and with everything that's happened lately I don't think I could take it… And yet, it seems like he wants me to open it. Does that mean… H-He likes me?! T-That can't be true, can it?! Dammit, Chitoge! If you don't try now, when will you?! I want to know, I need to know! Am I the promised girl?"_

Pulling out her key, Chitoge said with a blush "Let's just get it over with."

Nodding in agreement, Raku still had his pendant out and the two started moving their cherished objects closer to each other. For Chitoge, it seemed like millennia upon millennia had passed since she first pulled out her key. This was her moment of truth and it was finally time to know if she was the promised girl. After what seemed like an eternity, the key went into the keyhole and with as little strength as Chitoge could manage, she slowly turned the key until…

"It won't open…" Chitoge's words were barely audible because there was no strength behind them. All of her strength started leaving her body as she uttered to herself "So, I guess I'm not the one, huh." What seemed like a simple observation was actually an agonizing reality for Chitoge and her heart started breaking in two but did her best to hide it.

"Chitoge, I know this might be a lot for you to take in; but right now I need to know your feelings towards me. We may be in a fake relationship but have you ever experienced true feelings for me?" Raku asked as gently as he could, knowing one wrong move could break Chitoge even more.

Feeling like she had nothing left to lose at this point, Chitoge felt bitter and snapped "'Have you ever experienced true feelings for me?' Are you kidding me? What the hell kind of question is that anyways?! You think I would like you just because we spend so much time together?! Do you want to know how I really feel?! Every day you do things that annoy me relentlessly and we always fight! You say you know me and understand me but you don't! You never understood how I really felt and that pissed me off! I really hate you! And yet…" Tears ran down Chitoge's face as she closed her eyes and screamed "I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE! I love you! I love you! I love you! I love you so much! Ever since the play I've loved you! Oh who am I kidding, I've loved you even before that! You were always by my side no matter how badly I treated you and even when I rejected your help that never stopped you. You're so stupid to have gone through all of that for my sake but I was so happy that you did! When it comes to you, my heart has all these strange and other worldly feelings but now I know they all point to love. I don't want you to be with anybody else and that's why I put all of my faith into my key but… But even then things didn't turn out right! We have our moments where I feel like I'm getting closer to you only to find out in the end we weren't meant to be… I can't accept that! After all the memories we shared, I can't love you for this long just for it to go to waste like this! I… I can't… It's too painful… You comforted me in the darkness of that storage house, you found me when I was alone in those woods, you made me feel safe in a thunderstorm. I feel strong when you're beside me and I feel invincible when I feel your touch. I… I need you, Raku…"

Taking a few seconds for Chitoge's words to sink in, Raku's reply was "Geez, you really are a loud gorilla, you know that?"

Chitoge finally opened her eyes to search for some sort of explanation for Raku's harsh words right after her confession but was shocked at what she found.

With tears racing down his face as well, Raku added "But I've always cherish that trait of yours."

Seeing Raku cry added salt to her wounds and she cried harder "No! You're not allowed to cry right now! It only makes things harder for me!"

Wiping away his tears, Raku smiled once again and said "Then how about I make things better? There's something I want to give you but I could only give it to you if two conditions are met, one of them being that the person I'm giving it to loves me with a fiery passion."

Chitoge wasn't in any mood to be baited into asking "_What's the other one?" _so she silently waited for Raku to tell her the other condition.

Although it was embarrassing for him to admit it but after what he just put Chitoge through, Raku decided it would've been cruel to hold back the truth so he tried explaining "The other condition was met a long time ago but it took me a while to realize it. You see, um…" Scratching his cheek from embarrassment, Raku finally confessed "I have to love the girl I'm giving it to."

"Huh?" Chitoge asked simply. She didn't shout or raise her voice from shock. It was just Raku's confession was so startling that her mind didn't even comprehend the words Raku spoke for a few seconds. Finally realizing the meaning behind Raku's words, Chitoge gasped and repeated, this time in the shout Raku expected "HUH?!"

His smile becoming brighter, Raku blushed and finally said those cherished words that would always ring in Chitoge's heart "I love you, Chitoge."

Chitoge just stood there with her mouth wide open. If words could express how she felt, they would come out but Chitoge couldn't begin to express in words the feelings that came with Raku's confession.

Taking out a hidden, golden key with a sun symbol on it, Raku motioned it towards Chitoge and said "Here's the key you've wanted."

Chitoge wasn't budging an inch as she was completely taken over by shock. Taking Chitoge's hand, Raku opened her palm and placed the key into her possession. Looking down at now Chitoge's new key, Raku asked "Do you want to try again?"

Trying to calm down and organize her thoughts, Chitoge closed her eyes to think everything through. It took a while but when Chitoge opened her eyes, a soft and gorgeous smile rested on her face as she answered "No, I'm already satisfied. The only reason I wanted to be the promised girl is because I wanted to have a special connection with you. I wanted to have a strong past with you so maybe would have a strong future together. I was thinking too far back and too far ahead to think about the present. But I don't want to think about any other time but now because right now, at this very second, I love you and you love me. That's my biggest desire and I'm just glad that it came true. Even if I don't use this key to open your locket, just having it means we both truly love each other. That's good enough for me."

A giant smile emerged on Raku's face as he agreed "You know after all of this, I think I can keep the locket unopened because I'm happy with the way things are right now too."

"Raku." Chitoge called out to him before advancing and wrapping her arms around Raku, softly this time while crying new tears made out of joy.

Returning the embrace, Raku closed his eyes as a huge smile emerged his face and enjoyed the hug.

Remembering when she held Raku two days ago, she teased "It's about time you hugged me back."

"It's about time you hugged me right. I'm surprised that you can hug me so gently with that gorilla strength of yours." Raku teased back.

"Hey, don't say that! You'll ruin the moment." Chitoge complained, although she knew nothing in the world could ruin this moment. Her heart was beating a million times a minute and her body felt so light that she could have sworn she was about to float into the sky.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I was just so relieved that I started talking how I normally would with you. I really missed you." Raku replied, experiencing butterflies in his heart.

Starting to blush, Chitoge's smiled widened as she said "You missed me? We've only been apart for a few hours. Honestly, you're such a dumb beansprout." After a pause, Chitoge pulled Raku closer, deepening the hug and whispered "I missed you so much."

The two stayed like that for a while and enjoyed the sensation of the other's touch. When they opened their eyes, they were greeted by a blinding light that came from the window.

Turning his head right to face the window, Raku said "So it's sunrise already. How long were we like that for?"

Turning her head towards the window as well, Chitoge pressed her cheek against Raku's and said "Not long enough. Let's stay like this for a while longer."

Turning to face Chitoge, Raku asked "When did you become so cute? The Chitoge I know is really aggressive and not gentle at all."

Resting her forehead against Raku's, Chitoge replied "Well maybe I've always wanted to be like this and you brought out my aggressive side. Besides, my aggressiveness could be considered cute too you know."

After what seemed like forever spent with peace, Raku ended the long embrace and said "Hugging you feels amazing and all, but I think we should spend our day doing other things as well."

Wanting to complain about how short the hug felt, Chitoge held back and replied "Okay… But you'll have to let me take a nap first. After all, I didn't get any sleep last night thanks to you."

Feeling guilty, Raku apologized "Oh, that's fine. I'm really sorry, Chitoge. I didn't-"

"Don't apologize, I was just kidding about blaming you but I still need some sleep." Chitoge interrupted, letting out a yawn afterward.

Raku heard what Chitoge was saying but that still doesn't cover up the fact that Chitoge stood up all night because she was so worried about him. Feeling like letting her sleep is the least he could do, Raku said "Well, I'm going to let you sleep now. I'm going to head home now so-"

"Who said you could go home?" Chitoge interrupted once again, not wanting Raku to leave just yet. Once Raku gave Chitoge a confused face, Chitoge blushed and added shyly "I don't want you to go yet. Watch over me as I sleep."

Blushing from embarrassment, Raku asked "A-Are you even okay with that?! I mean, you falling asleep with me in the room? Besides, what am I supposed to do while you sleep?!"

Starting to become embarrassed as well, Chitoge stuttered "O-Of course I'm okay with it! I-I know you don't have the nerve to do anything strange to me while I'm sleeping! And what do you mean 'what am I supposed to do'?! You get the honor of watching over me while I'm sleeping! I don't let just anyone watch me sleep you know!"

What ended up happening was Chitoge trying to fall asleep on her bed while Raku sat at the edge of her bed, looking outside of the window.

Laying on her side with her back to Raku, Chitoge was struggling to fall asleep. Her mind told her she was exhausted but her heart told her she was excited and hyper just from having Raku close by.

"_Ugh, it's so hard to sleep when every second I have to repress the urge to jump up and tackle Raku into a hug. Even though she's a huge thorn in my side, I can understand where Marika is coming from now."_ Chitoge thought, battling these new feelings that started welling up ever since Raku's confession.

Wondering if Chitoge was asleep yet, Raku turned around to look at her. Although Chitoge was awake, her body not moving an inch made it seem to Raku that she was asleep. Having a sudden urge to feel her, Raku moved his hand over to Chitoge's head and started playing with her hair softly which startled Chitoge but she made sure not to show any signs of being awake.

Continuing to run his fingers through her hair, Raku whispered "I sure hope you're asleep. If you weren't then this would be pretty embarrassing. I just wanted to say… Thank you, Chitoge. Last night, things were looking pretty bad for me. When everything went to black and I felt completely frozen over, you found me somehow. When I heard your voice, everything became warm and I felt strong enough to come back. Oh, and you kissed my cheek in the dream. Is that crazy or what? Even if it was just in a dream, it felt real to me so I just wanted to return this to you."

All of a sudden, Chitoge felt something warm against her cheek and after it came a whisper "Zawsze in love."

A warm and fuzzy feeling started back up in Chitoge which started from her cheek and quickly spread to the rest of her body. Unable to contain herself completely, Chitoge's lips formed a giant smile but luckily for her Raku started looking out the window again although he never stopped playing with Chitoge's hair.

Starting to feel comfortable, Chitoge thought to herself "_Geez, Raku. If you wanted me to be asleep then stop making my heart beat so fast, although I have to say I'm really comfortable now. The only reason I'm not jumping on you right now is because your fingers running through my hair is so relaxing and it numbs my body, in a good way I mean. I'm glad my voice reached you last night, even though I'm a little embarrassed that you felt my lips on your cheek. You always found me when I was in the dark so I'm glad I could do the same for you. I have a lot of strong feelings for you and I guess I can say you have a good idea of them, but that's not enough. When I wake up, I'll start expressing my true feelings for you more so you better start noticing. When I wake up… Raku…" _Chitoge finally managed to fall asleep.

* * *

**Author's notes: The end? Haha... So, maybe I'm not done with this fanfiction just yet. I'm sorry (-1 author credibility)! It was supposed to wrap up with this chapter but I got more ideas so this fanfiction will last just a little longer.**


	7. Christmas Nisekoi! Worst Nickname Ever

"For the last time, I'm not telling you what I want!"

"Oh, come on! Of all times, you choose now to not be picky?!"

The usual couple were arguing once again, with Raku insisting Chitoge to tell him what she wants for Christmas and Chitoge keeping her wants a secret. The couple were joined by Shuu, Marika, and Kosaki who were all spending the evening out and about together.

"I think you two should stop fighting now, please…" Kosaki insisted quietly.

"My, you two have been bickering for the past week now. Could it be that you're finally reaching your limits? I wonder." Marika observed with glee, hoping for the termination of their relationship.

While Chitoge was enraged by Marika's comment, she listened to Kosaki's request and replied "I'm sorry, Kosaki. It's just that Raku is stubborn to the point of being ridiculous."

Chitoge's comment annoyed Raku, but it felt wrong to make someone as soft as Kosaki listen to their arguments, so Raku answered simply "Sorry, Kosaki."

Once the arguing finally stopped, Chitoge and Kosaki started chatting with each other and Raku and Shuu did the same. Marika was satisfied simply by being in Raku's company.

Seizing the opportunity, Shuu whispered in Raku's ear "So, what's the story with you and Chitoge lately?"

"W-What?! What are you talking about?!" Raku whispered back with panic.

"You know what I'm talking about, you and Chitoge have always had a habit of fighting each other but it's been crazy lately. Did you do something?" Shuu explained, wanting all the juicy details.

Relieved by Shuu's reasoning, Raku thought to himself "_That was close. I thought for sure Shuu figured out that we were dating for real._" Looking at his friend with a sense of guilt, Raku's thoughts went on "_I'll definitely tell you about that soon, Shuu. I'm sorry, but it's just really embarrassing."_

Returning to the topic at hand, Raku answered "Let's just say I did the unforgivable."

Of course, Shuu's curiosity was not going to be satisfied with that alone and Raku knew this. Motioning for Shuu to come closer, Raku spilled the beans in a whisper.

It took every ounce of Shuu's willpower to stop himself from laughing out loud. Hunching over, Shuu acted like he was coughing.

Raku put on a poker face but there were still traces of shame on his face. Hearing snickering from behind him, Raku turned around to see Marika in tears as she covered her mouth.

"I'm sorry, Raku. But that's probably the funniest thing I've ever heard!" Marika snickered who was in about the same shape as Shuu.

Hearing distracting noises, Chitoge snapped "What's going on over there?!"

After their long walk, the group reached their destination.

"Woohoo! It's been so long since I've been ice skating!" Chitoge exclaimed with enthusiasm.

It was an outdoor ice skating rink with lights to illuminate the rink. The group paid the entry fee and got their skating rentals.

Watching Raku put on his skates, Chitoge sneered "Don't embarrass me too much out there, darling."

With forced confidence, Raku smirked "I'll have you know this isn't my first time ice skating, honey."

-Eight years ago-

"Here I go!" a younger Raku exclaimed as he ran towards the rink. Once his skates hit the ice, he fell face first into the ice.

In pain and irritated, Raku mumbled "Ice skating is stupid!"

-End of flashback-

Starting to sweat from worry, Raku tried reassuring himself "_It's… It's alright! Chitoge, Shuu and Kosaki haven't ice skated in a while either and Marika has never ice skated. We all have about the same experience with it." _

After getting his skates on, Raku found Kosaki and Shuu standing at the edge of the ice skating rink and they seemed to be impressed. Joining the two, Raku asked "What's going on?"

"Well, I expected this to happen." Shuu answered vaguely.

"Incredible." Kosaki said in awe.

Looking outward to the ice rink, Raku found two girls who were skating with grace and near perfection.

Sighing, Raku commented "This is how it always turns out."

After watching for a few minutes, they saw Chitoge and Marika returning to them.

"Ice skating is so much fun!" Chitoge smiled happily.

"Did you enjoy my performance, Raku?" Marika asked with sparkling eyes.

Knowing full well he was out of his league once again, Raku answered "Yeah. You both were amazing out there."

Marika seemed ecstatic while Chitoge simply blushed. Remembering that Raku said "both", the two girls faced each other with annoyed looks.

"_Once a rival always a rival_" Chitoge thought, starting to become angry again. Looking at Kosaki, Chitoge asked "Do you know how to skate?"

Shocked from being put on the spot, Kosaki replied timidly "Well… I haven't skated in a long time so-"

"Don't worry! I'll show you how!" Chitoge interrupted, as she grabbed Kosaki's hand and started leading her away.

Looking at her "fiancée", Marika asked "Raku, you don't know how to skate, don't you? Here, let me show you." Marika extended her hand towards Raku.

Getting between the two, Shuu exclaimed "Why thank you for offering me such an opportunity! I'm not that great of a skater so I'll be in your care!"

Marika grabbed Shuu's wrist and flung him into the skating rink. Surprisingly, Shuu didn't fall down and replied to Marika's harsh action "How mean! But I was just joking about not being able to skate."

"You traitor! I thought we were in this together!" Raku exclaimed. Previously, Shuu told him that he didn't know how to skate. Getting annoyed, Raku said "Well fine! You're not the only one who lied about-"

_BAM_

Raku was about to tell Shuu that he could skate as well, but fell face first into the ice after taking one step forward.

"R-Raku, are you alright?!" Marika asked worriedly.

Rubbing his face, Raku mumbled in pain "Yeah… I'm fine. Just let me get-"

_BAM_

Before he could even get up, Raku fell with his back to the ice. A certain distance away, Raku could have sworn he heard a gorilla laughing.

Admitting defeat, Raku mumbled "I'm in your care."

Back with Chitoge and Kosaki, they were skating together with Chitoge taking it slowly to match Kosaki.

"Yeah, you're getting the hang of it!" Chitoge told her friend happily.

"Really? I guess it's because I've skated before." Kosaki replied, happy with herself.

"Or maybe we just have prodigy on our hands!" Chitoge encouraged.

"I think that title would go to Marika of all people." Kosaki said with a small blush as she looked at Raku and Marika together.

Chitoge noticed them too and her blood was boiling. "That girl's just a show off. 'I've never skated before', what a load of crap!" Chitoge remarked sharply.

Noticing her anger, Kosaki suggested "Maybe you should be the one to teach Raku. I get along with Marika so it's an easy swap of partners."

Her raging turning into gloominess, Chitoge replied "It's better this way. We're currently fighting after all. I just want to make up with him already!"

"Then you should do it!" Kosaki said forcefully. Noticing that her tone caught Chitoge off guard, Kosaki went on softly "I-I mean, this is your perfect chance to talk it out with him."

Back with Raku and Marika, Raku was steadily improving and Marika had a merry look on her face.

"Thanks, Marika, but I think I can skate on my own for now." Raku said with gratitude.

Not wanting their moment to end, Marika said desperately "We shouldn't stop so soon. I don't think you've improved enough to the point where you can skate by yourself."

"I don't think so either, but if we stay like this any longer, 'honey' won't be able to stand it." Raku reasoned, letting go of Marika's hand and added "I'm going to take a short break."

Looking at Raku struggle slightly as he made his way off the ice rink, Marika thought to herself "_Raku is overly caring as always. Willing to risk falling on the hard ice and embarrass himself just to protect another person's feelings. But why her...?"_

Sitting down and drinking his water, Raku examined the skating rink and saw Kosaki making her way towards him.

"Hey, Kosaki. You taking a break too?" Raku asked.

"I am. It's hard to keep up with Chitoge." Kosaki replied, but she didn't tell him her true reason for joining him. Kosaki was a soft girl and she hated seeing her friends fighting each other.

"I don't think you should keep asking Chitoge what she wants for Christmas." Kosaki told Raku out of nowhere.

"W-What are you talking about?" Raku asked, confused about the topic coming up so suddenly.

Going through with her explanation, Kosaki went on "I'm pretty sure she wants a gift you select for her, not one she tells you to get. It more of a surprise to her that way."

Scratching his head, Raku said embarrassingly "That's a tall order. I have no idea what to get for her and I don't want her to be disappointed."

Trying to encourage Raku, Kosaki replied "You've gotten birthday gifts for her before. Isn't getting her a Christmas gift the same thing?"

The real reason why Raku was so hung up about it is because they were dating for real now, which adds more pressure into getting Chitoge the perfect gift. Raku was trying to think of a reply to Kosaki's response until she cut him off.

"If it's you, I know you'll get Chitoge a great gift." Kosaki smiled.

Back with Chitoge and Marika, they found themselves in another argument.

"Would you mind not getting so clingy with my darling?" Chitoge threatened with her arms crossed.

Marika was already irritated as it was, but Chitoge wasn't helping at all. Having already thought of a clever response, Marika replied boldly "'Clingy'? I only stepped in to help Raku because a certain gorilla wouldn't show him. Speaking of gorillas, I heard the best nickname that matches you perfectly-"

Heading back onto the ice, Raku thought to himself "_Before I think about Chitoge's present, I should think about making up with her. It's two days before Christmas Eve and it would be horrible if we continued fighting through the holidays."_ Once he was on the ice, Raku started slowly looking for his girlfriend only to find her and Marika in a very familiar situation.

"I heard the best nickname that matches you perfectly, *******!"

Raku watched helplessly as he once again saw Chitoge get more pissed off than he could ever imagine. As if sensing his presence, Chitoge glared over at Raku and stated demonically "SO, YOU TOLD HER ABOUT THAT, HUH?!"

"I-I'm so sorry, Raku!" Marika deeply apologized, knowing she just put Raku in a brutal situation.

-Horrible Flashback-

Raku and Chitoge were having a discussion which quickly turned into an argument about where to have their date.

"No way! You decided where we went to last time and the time before that!" Raku told his unreasonable girlfriend.

"So what? The places you take me bore me to death!" Chitoge replied to her dull boyfriend.

"At least the places I choose don't shorten my lifespan!"

The argument continued like this for a few minutes until Raku launched his secret weapon for the first time when he said "You're such a pain in the ass, Shitoge!"

Regret was the only word to describe Raku in that moment in time. Chitoge's hair spiked upwards and so did her unbridled rage. "_You're gonna have a bad time." _kept ringing in Raku's mind. It was too soon for this, after all, Raku still needs to write his will.

"Ichijou, I think you have something on your face."

Feeling parts of his face fearfully, Raku asked "W-What do you mean-"

_POW POW POW POW POW_

-End of Horrible Flashback-

"RAAAAAAAAAKUUUUUUUU!" Chitoge screamed as she charged towards Raku at full speed.

Screaming as well (out of horror), Raku tried skating away as fast as he could but quickly fell from panic.

_BAM, BAM_

"Owww, that hurt!" Raku heard his girlfriend complaining. Opening his eyes, he noticed that both he and Chitoge were lying on the ice.

"_She must've tripped on me after I fell._" Raku assumed, remembering that he felt something rough collide against him. "You okay, Chitoge?" Raku asked, his fear fading.

Turning to face Raku, Chitoge covered her nose and replied sharply "Do I look okay? I fell face first into ice because you're a stupid beansprout who can't even skate properly."

Getting to his feet first, Raku offered his hand to Chitoge. Chitoge had the urge to use her brute strength to pull Raku back down on the ice again. Despite her anger, she accepted the support.

"Woah!" Raku blurted who was losing balance from helping Chitoge up. Chitoge grabbed Raku with her free hand and helped steady him until he regained balance.

"T-Thanks." Raku muttered, still catching his breath.

"Hmpf." Chitoge replied coldly.

Even after she was pulled up, Chitoge didn't let go of Raku's hand and glared angrily into Raku's gentle face until her facial expression softened as well.

"I'm sorry." Raku said suddenly. Before Chitoge could say anything, Raku went on "I'm sorry for saying that rude thing to you and I'm sorry I've been pressing you for a gift lately."

"I'm sorry too. I always drag you around with me so it was only a matter of time for you to snap at me like that." Chitoge apologized as well.

Wearing a small blush, Raku scratched his cheek and mentioned "Well, you only drag me around so much because you want to go on more dates with me, right?" This made Chitoge blush.

Chitoge simply nodded, who was too embarrassed to give a verbal response.

After a short silence between the two, Chitoge asked "So, we've made up, right?"

"Yeah." Raku replied, still sensing some awkwardness between them.

"You… Do you still love me?" Chitoge whispered as she looked down at her feet. It was a question she was dreading to ask but was something she needed to know.

"Huh?!" Raku blurted out loud, taken by surprise by her question. Taking a look at Chitoge's face, Raku got an idea of how much her question had been bothering her. It was obvious that Chitoge was on the verge of tears.

"Don't be stupid, of course I still love you." Raku finally answered. Before Chitoge could respond, she was enveloped in a hug.

"I-Idiot! Not in front of everyone!" Chitoge blushed fiercely and struggled weakly for a few seconds. Surrendering to Raku and her own desires, Chitoge returned Raku's embrace and mumbled "Geez, this is so embarrassing."

"Well, you should get used to it. After all, we're a legitimate couple now, even though we don't act like it at all." Raku whispered with a slight blush on his face.

Not much has changed since they started to truly date. They still went on dates and still acted the same when they were at school or around friends. When they are alone together, however, the changes in their relationship become more noticeable.

The embrace they were currently sharing reminded Chitoge of one of her favorite memories with Raku after they started truly dating.

-Flashback-

At Raku's place, he and Chitoge were on the couch watching a movie together.

"Raku! Let's cuddle!" Chitoge suggested longingly as she moved closer to him.

"O-Okay. Geez, you're so pushy." Raku replied, his heart starting to race.

They spent a good ten minutes cuddling with Raku on his back with one arm around his girlfriend and Chitoge had a hand on his chest and she nuzzled her face against his.

Checking up on things, Ryuu walked in and asked "Master Raku, I was wondering if you guys needed-"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Raku and Chitoge yelled in unison.

-End of Flashback-

"_He still loves me…_"

"Hehe." Chitoge giggled softly.

"Hmm?" Raku questioned Chitoge's sudden change in mood.

Making up her mind, Chitoge held Raku tighter and confessed "Raku, I want us to be more like this, you know, more honest about our feelings. I always have the urge to hug you or hold your hand but I hold back because it would look weird to our friends. That's why… I think we should tell our friends the truth. We started out pretending to be a couple, but now we're pretending to be a fake couple in front of them."

Chitoge was right. After all, they were keeping secrets from their closest friends. Even though it was embarrassing, Raku really did love Chitoge and he didn't want to keep things from his friends either.

"I'll tell Shuu soon. I'll leave Kosaki and Ruri to you." Raku whispered.

Chitoge nodded and the two embraced each other for a while longer until they decided to part.

The group stayed at the rink for about an hour longer before they decided to head home.

"Hey, Shuu, you're not busy tomorrow, right? Let's hang out then." Raku asked before parting with his best friend.

"Sure, but please don't assume I don't have any plans. It's depressing." Shuu replied jokingly before going off in a different direction.

"Goodnight everyone. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday." Kosaki cheered softly before leaving.

"Raku, should you decide that you would want to spend Christmas with an actual human being, I can always make arrangements." Marika smiled to Raku before parting.

Raku looked at his girlfriend who was obviously angered by Marika's remark. Knowing the best way to calm her down, Raku gently took Chitoge's hand and said "I'll walk you home."

Feeling Raku's warmth with her hand and seeing his gentle smile, Chitoge's anger diminished and smiled back "Okay."

It was a lengthy walk but the two saw this as an opportunity for their sacred alone time which they both enjoyed to the fullest. Upon reaching her mansion, Chitoge broke their blissful silence "Thank you for walking me home. I know it was far."

"Don't worry about it. Anything to spend time with you." Raku scratched his cheek with his free hand as he said this.

Raku's words made Chitoge blush and brightened her smile. Unable to contain herself, Chitoge wrapped her arms tightly around Raku who returned the embrace.

Enjoying the hug, Chitoge murmured "I don't want to let go."

"Me neither." Raku answered back. They were like this for a little while longer but eventually ended the embrace.

"I hate saying goodbye to you." Chitoge sulked as she proceeded to her front door. Before opening it, Chitoge looked back to her boyfriend one more time to say "Goodnight, Raku. I love you."

"I love you too, Chitoge. I'll see you soon." Raku replied with the warm smile she adores.

"Hehe." Chitoge giggled happily before entering her home.

Heading home, Raku's thoughts were filled with Chitoge. They finally made up and shared heartwarming moments together. Raku's hand was still warm from Chitoge holding it which made his heart beat a little faster.

"I swear, that girl." Raku chuckled, unable to contain his happiness.

-Two days later, on Christmas Eve-

Her surroundings were bustling with life. In just about every direction, families, friends, and especially couples were enjoying themselves. It's fitting for the night of Christmas Eve to be this lively, but at the same time, it's not fitting when you take into account her current situation.

"_Raku…_" thoughts of the boy she loves keep crossing her mind. Taking out her cell phone, she began typing out a message that read "Who do you really love?" Shaking her head softly as if already knowing the answer, she erased the message without sending it and instead typed a new one.

Looking at what she just typed, she chuckled with bitterness. After all, a simple text shouldn't have as much impact as it did, especially one that hasn't been sent, but it was tearing her heart apart from just reading it. Tears were the result of some many mixed emotions and of not knowing what to do. Collecting herself as much as she could, her thumb hovered over the "send" button, unsure of whether or not to go through with it.

* * *

**Author's Note - I'm back from the dead! First off, I'm incredibly sorry about, you know, for not writing in over a year. Truth is, I tried continuing this Fanfic three times but I was just so unsatisfied that I scraped each document mid chapter. I'm feeling good about this plot and I intend on going through with it. There will probably be three more chapters after this one, each one representing a single day. I know what some of you might be wondering, "Youtoberz, this fanfic will be done by the end of Christmas, right?"**

**"Hahaha..."**

**"..."**

**"Nope." With the content I plan to write, I won't be done by Christmas because I work right now as well. I'll try to post a chapter up on the 24th or 25th though. Also, I just wanted to talk about the feedback I've been getting with this Fanfic. I read every review and I just wanted to say thanks for your support (writer thrusts thumb forward, Might Guy style). To be honest, I probably wouldn't have wrote this chapter if not for the heartwarming feedback I've gotten from this Fanfic. So once again, arigatou gozaimasu.**

**Oh yeah, does anyone Smash? Can't believe we're getting Bayonetta and a freaking dragon! Initially, my reaction to Corrin's reveal went something like "Not another one." but I was quickly persuaded when I found out just how diverse his moveset is compared to other characters, especially Fire Emblem. Then Bayonetta was a nice surprise too and she looks fun as heck to play as. The combos are too strong with her. Still didn't get my Ivysaur or Sceptile but I'm still happy with what we got. Can't wait for February!**

**Oh, and you've probably guessed this, but I'm on the Undertale hype train at the moment. That game is incredible.**


	8. Unrequited Affection

"So, you and Chitoge are really dating now?" Shuu asked his embarrassed best friend.

"Y-Yeah." Raku answered with a blush.

Making things worse for Raku, Shuu started to laugh out loud despite being in a crowded mall.

"Geez, can you tone it down a little? We are in public you know." Raku muttered with a tone of embarrassment.

Regaining himself, Shuu teased "Sorry, it's just that it really took you a while to tell me. It must've been really embarrassing."

"What are you-" Raku began before being cut off.

"I'm your best friend, Raku. I've known you and Chitoge have been, well, dating dating these past few months." Shuu replied seriously with a smile on his face.

Normally, Raku would've been shocked, but this was his best friend he was dealing with.

Borrowing words that Shuu spoke once, Raku said "'Being childhood friends is a scary thing.'"

"I know, right?" Shuu replied with a laugh and continued "I always knew when you were acting and when you weren't. About three months ago, you and Chitoge were showing to the class that you were a couple as usual, but when I looked at you, I could tell that you were being genuine. That's how I knew that it wasn't an act anymore."

"… That's scary." Raku commented on Shuu's ability to see straight through him.

The two walked around the mall as they browsed stores until it was lunch time. Deciding to take a break, the best friends got lunch which Raku paid for.

"Wow, I get free food when I say I like Ms. Kyoko and I also get free food when you say you like Chitoge. We should like girls more often." Shuu beamed with delight after finishing his meal.

"I'm only covering for you because you accompanied me today to find a gift." Raku answered.

"Not that you needed my help. Heck, you even got her two gifts and you didn't even consult me." Shuu added.

"My, it's a pleasure to meet you here, Raku." A familiar voice spoke.

Turning around, Raku saw Marika's figure which gave him a jolt considering the circumstances.

Trying to think of a good excuse, Raku tried speaking "O-Oh! Hey, M-Marika. We were just-"

Thinking the situation was appropriate for him to leave, Shuu stood up and exclaimed "Boy that was some good food. Well, thanks for the meal, Raku, but I have to go now. See ya!"

Knowing Shuu is purposefully putting him in an awkward situation, Raku shouted "I see how it is. Once I give you a free meal, you decide to leave!"

"Raku." Shuu turned around and gave him an encouraging thumbs up as he said "Good luck with 'you know what' and enjoy the holidays!"

"_Geez, some best friend you are."_ Raku thought with a soft chuckle. Smiling back to Shuu, Raku returned the thumbs up and answered "I will. Take care of yourself, Shuu." Giving one last wave goodbye, Shuu left the food court.

Taking a seat across from Raku, Marika observed "It seems you have made some purchases today. Would they have anything to do with your squabble with Shitoge yesterday?"

Taken by surprise from her foul mouth, Raku begged "Can you please not say that here? There are children around. And… yeah, they're for Chitoge."

"I see." Marika answered simply. The two sat there silently for a little bit until Marika spoke "You really do love her, don't you?"

It honestly hurt Raku to tell her the truth. It took a while, but Raku accepted Marika's feelings for him, but he never returned them. In the end, Raku fell for Chitoge instead.

"I do." Raku forced the words out, afraid of hurting Marika.

I see." Marika answered simply once again, who has been putting on a poker face from the start.

After taking a small breath, Marika began to explain herself "I've watched you the entire time, you know. I knew from the start that your relationship with that girl wasn't genuine. The way you looked at each other made me think you were mortal enemies."

"How did you-" Raku asked before being cut off.

"Let me finish." Marika interjected before going on "I saw the way you used to look at Kosaki. I wasn't discouraged though and I secretly decided to make her my rival. I was sure I could make your affection turn to me, however, it only turned towards 'that' girl."

"Marika…" Raku uttered speechlessly. Watching her body quiver and her eyes starting to water up, Raku felt horrible knowing there was nothing he could do.

"Do not pity me!" Marika exclaimed suddenly. Brushing the tears out of her eyes, Marika went on with confidence "Because I haven't given up yet! You may not like it, but I'm still going to chase after you. I'm still determined to win you over in the end so that gorilla better not take it easy just because she's earned your affection for the moment."

If it was anyone else, Raku would've been shocked, but this was Marika after all. Sighing, Raku answered "Just watch out though, because she's a tough opponent."

"I know. To be honest, she's as relentless as me." Marika answered. One question popping into her mind, Marika asked "What made you fall for her?"

"Well… You see-"

Raku went on to tell an embarrassing speech which made him regret saying anything by the end of it. The two enjoyed each other's company for a while until Raku decided it was time to head home.

"Thanks for spending time with me today. I thoroughly enjoyed it." Marika beamed.

"No problem. Have a Merry Christmas, Marika." Raku answered.

"I wish the same to you, Raku. Happy holidays." Marika replied before walking off.

While Raku was walking home, he slightly blushed as he thought "_I can't believe I told Marika all that! I hope she doesn't tell Chitoge. I mean, I know me and Chitoge are dating but if she heard what I said today, she'd probably never let me live it down."_

"AGHHH!" Raku shouted as he bashed his head against a nearby utility pole from his embarrassing speech.

By the time Raku arrived home, it was close to evening and he got the usual greetings from his yakuza family.

Walking to his room, Raku pondered about what to do for the rest of the day. Raku opened the door and-

"What took you so long, stupid beansprout?" Chitoge greeted with annoyance.

Waiting on the other side of the door was his girlfriend. Not knowing how to handle the situation, Raku reasoned "O-Oh. Pardon me, I must have the wrong room… and house. If you'll excuse me." Raku started closing the sliding door.

Forcing the door open, Chitoge yanked Raku inside and finished shutting the door for him.

"W-What the hell!" Raku exclaimed from Chitoge's appearance and aggressiveness.

Her annoyance rising, Chitoge shouted "Don't 'what the hell' me! I've been trying to contact you all day!"

Things started to make some sense to Raku, who left his phone at home by accident. He wasn't the type to sweat forgetting his phone at home, although, his current situation might change that.

"I forgot my phone." Raku explained, pointing at his cellphone on the floor.

"That's not an excuse for this." Chitoge sharply replied.

"Geez, what's the big-" Raku started to say, but saw that he had ten texts, seven calls, and four voice mails from "I'm furious with you!"

"Did you really have to change my contacts?" Raku asked, recognizing Chitoge's number from "I'm furious with you!"

"Hmpf, I only changed my name in your contacts. Because I'm angry with you!" Chitoge stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, I thought you were 'furious' with me. You're angry with me all the time so I'm used to that." Raku responded and started reading several texts out loud "Darling 3, when will you be home? Darling, are you there? I need to know when you're getting home. Raku, you're taking forever to answer back. I-Ichijou, answer the phone." Raku gulped on the last one. Whenever Chitoge calls him by his last name, it spells trouble.

"U-Um, Chitoge?" Raku looked up quizzically at his girlfriend. What threw Raku off more was her facial expression which seemed to be a mix of pouting and puppy dog eyes.

"I've been texting and calling you all day! I was worried!" Chitoge yelled at her boyfriend.

"G-Geez, I'm sorry I worried you." Raku apologized who was afraid of Chitoge's current mood.

Unsatisfied with Raku's apology, Chitoge tackled and pinned Raku against the wall and shouted "You think you're getting out of this with 'sorry I'm an idiot who forgets everything important'?!"

"I'll always make sure to keep my phone on me at all times after this. Please, just settled down a little, okay?" Raku tried reasoning with Chitoge.

Grumbling to herself for a few seconds, Chitoge gave in "Fine. Anyways, are you sure you're a man? You look like such a weak beansprout to get pinned like this."

"Any man would seem weak compared to a gorilla. Besides, I can get out of this if I really wanted to." Raku answered back with a grin.

"Oh? Then why don't you prove it? Actions do speak louder than words, darling." Chitoge challenged with a smirk.

Getting serious, Raku forced his way out of Chitoge's gorilla hold and forced her to the ground. The two wrestled like this for a good amount of time until Raku ended up pinned to the floor by Chitoge.

"You're… too strong." Raku panted, out of breath from their bonding moment.

"Don't… give me… that. I can tell… you were… holding back." Chitoge panted, almost as tired as Raku.

Raku prioritized catching his breath over replying to her. For the moment, he wrapped his arms around her waist. Claiming her prize, Chitoge wrapped her arms around Raku's neck and placed her head on his chest.

"You were holding back too. Even if we both went all out, the end result wouldn't change." Raku admitted after catching his breath. It should feel embarrassing to be weaker than your girlfriend, but Raku didn't mind because it's Chitoge.

Giggling, Chitoge agreed "You're probably right."

Remembering what they discussed yesterday, Raku said "I told Shuu that we were dating."

"Wow, that was quick!" Chitoge exclaimed as she raised her head from his chest. It's been less than a day since Chitoge suggested they tell their friends the truth.

Placing a hand on her cheek, Raku whispered "Well, my goal is to make you as happy as possible."

Blushing from his comment, Chitoge placed her hand on top of Raku's and smiled "And you said we don't act like a couple."

As Chitoge started to rest her forehead onto Raku's, a feeling of bliss coursed throughout her body.

"I love you, Raku." Chitoge whispered with a warm smile.

"I love you too, Chitoge." Raku answered back, returning her smile.

"Hehe." Chitoge giggled as she closed her eyes, fully enjoying the moment.

Later on, the two found themselves watching a movie. Ever since their last date to the movie theater, they started watching random movies at Raku's place. Sometimes they found themselves actually paying attention to the movie, but most of the time they were too busy paying attention to each other whether it was talking through the movie or cuddling.

"Raku, lets cuddle!" Chitoge exclaimed as she held out her arms to Raku longingly.

"Déjà vu. You do know that you suggest that we cuddle every time we start watching a movie, right? Do you only put on a movie so we can cuddle or something?" Raku mentioned, his heart beating faster from Chitoge's request.

"Of course! What, did you think I actually wanted to watch this?" Chitoge pointed at the TV. To be honest, they both didn't even know what was happening plot-wise anymore.

"Answer me this, Raku. Do you want to pay attention to the movie or me?" Chitoge asked seriously, already knowing the right answer.

"… Just get over here." Raku mumbled with a blush, once again surrendering to Chitoge's and his own desires. It played out how it usually did with the two holding each other close until a yakuza decided to check up on them.

Once the sun started to dip below the horizon, Chitoge decided it was time to part with her boyfriend for the day.

"Thanks for having me over, Raku." Chitoge smiled.

"I don't think I had choice in the matter, seeing as you were already at my house before I even returned." Raku chuckled.

The two shared the same bitter-sweet embrace before Chitoge went home. While walking, Chitoge thought to herself "_I can't believe Raku already told Shuu that we're dating. It was just yesterday when I said we should tell them the truth and he's already kept his end of the bargain, despite how embarrassing it is. Well, I won't lose to you! As soon as I see Kosaki and Ruri I'll be sure to-"_

"Is that you, Chitoge? Wow, fancy meeting you here." Kosaki beamed at her friend.

"Hello." Ruri greeted casually.

"_Oh come on! How is this even possible?!" _Chitoge screamed on the inside. Despite her recent brave thoughts, Chitoge couldn't help but get incredibly nervous because of the turn of events. "_M-Maybe I'll just tell them another day. Yeah, I'm not being a coward. I just need time to prepare myself. Yup, that's it!" _Chitoge reasoned with herself hesitantly.

Noticing Chitoge panic, Kosaki asked worriedly "Are you feeling okay, Chitoge?"

Seeing that Kosaki was starting to catch on to her panicking, Chitoge blurted "W-What do you mean? I'm feeling just fine."

"_Raku, I want us to be more like this, you know, more honest about our feelings." _Chitoge remembered saying this yesterday.

Mustering up as much courage as she could, Chitoge closed her eyes and blurted "Actually me and Raku are dating!"

Confused, Kosaki asked "H-huh? Haven't you and Raku been dating for two years now?"

Blushing furiously, Chitoge tried to explain "Yeah, but now we're dating dating, I mean, we're dating for real, I mean, we're real partners now, I mean-" Chitoge was incredibly nervous and embarrassed that she found it extremely difficult to explain her current relationship with Raku.

"Where are you going with this?" Ruri interrupted, trying to get a concrete answer out of Chitoge.

Kosaki started getting an idea of what Chitoge was trying to communicate, but didn't want to believe it. Holding her own hand to her chest, Kosaki was speechless as she tried preparing herself for what Chitoge was about to confess.

"We really started dating three months ago. Now we're dating because we want to. I love Raku and he loves me!" Chitoge finished, staring at the ground from embarrassment.

Silence filled the air. Ruri looked at her timid friend who couldn't stop shaking.

"Oh… well… I'm so happy for you." Chitoge heard Kosaki say but there was something funny about her voice. It sounded… painful. Chitoge thought she must be imagining things, but when she looked at from the ground, she was shocked at the state Kosaki was in.

Covering her eyes with her arm, Kosaki couldn't fight the tears off as they ran down her face as she cried as silently as she could. Chitoge could only watch speechlessly and helplessly as one of her closest friends cried in front of her until Ruri said "I'm sorry, but I think it's best if we go for now."

Once again, Chitoge could only watch with guilt as the two girls walked away.

"_What did I do..?" _Chitoge thought to herself, ashamed of herself for making Kosaki cry.

As Ruri and Kosaki were walking home together, Kosaki collected herself as she muttered "I really am a crybaby."

"There's nothing wrong with that. From what I hear, love is a painful thing." Ruri tried comforting her friend, but added "I don't mean to be harsh, but you shouldn't have waited so long to tell him how you feel."

As much as it hurt Kosaki to hear that, it was completely true. Harboring feelings towards Raku for over two years and having countless opportunities to confess to him, Kosaki realized she did very little about her first true love. Throughout her high school days, Kosaki felt like she always had more time to tell Raku, after all, he couldn't get into a real relationship with someone until his fake relationship ended. Raku and Chitoge falling in love was always possibility in Kosaki's mind, but she thought she was just being paranoid.

"Why didn't he choose me?" Kosaki voiced her thoughts bitterly, with new tears racing down her cheeks.

The sun had set hours ago and most people were already asleep, but Kosaki crying was burned painfully into Chitoge's mind.

"_Was it because I've been hiding it from her for too long?" _Chitoge tried reasoning. After all, if her best friend hid something like that for that long, Chitoge would've been upset too. There was one question that has been bothering Chitoge, but she neglected to think about it until now.

"_Is Kosaki in love with Raku too?"_

Initially, Chitoge thought that question was ridiculous. After all, there weren't any signs that Kosaki liked him in the first place… or so she thought. Ever since Chitoge met Raku, she noticed a certain tenderness that Kosaki displayed to Raku.

"_Maybe they were really good friends._" Chitoge always reasoned, not even taking into consideration that Kosaki could have romantic feelings for Raku. This was a much simpler conclusion for Chitoge.

Shaking her head, Chitoge tried to reason "_No way! Kosaki is like that towards everyone! We can't be in love with the same person… right?!_" But then, Chitoge remember the looks Kosaki gave exclusively to Raku.

Kosaki always looked his way, as if longing for something.

-Valentine's Day Flashback-

"Huh?! How did someone like you get all these chocolates?!" Chitoge demanded with rage as she looked at Raku's stash.

"How am I supposed to know?! And what do you mean 'somebody like you'?!" Raku yelled back, offended.

Chitoge was about escalate the argument further but noticed something. "_Have I seen those chocolates somewhere before?" _Chitoge pondered, recognizing the shape of the chocolates and the packaging of them.

-End of Flashback-

"… No way." Chitoge uttered, feeling a knots in her stomach. Chitoge and Kosaki agreed to help each other make chocolate for the person they have feelings for last Valentine's Day.

They both gave chocolate to the same person.

"No…" Chitoge whispered as everything started falling in place.

"_Well, unlike you, the girl I'm thinking about is well-bred and feminine and awesomely sweet._" Chitoge remembered Raku saying during her birthday party.

"No… No, no." Chitoge clutched her head and started crying, realizing that Raku was in fact talking about Kosaki whenever he mentioned his dream girl.

"_They were in love, but they couldn't admit it."_

"_From the beginning, Raku was forced into relationship with me." _

"_Because of that, Kosaki couldn't bring herself to confess._

"_Did… did I cheat?"_

"_Did Raku fall for me because of all the time we were forced to spend together?"_

"_Is our nisekoi, our false love, the only thing that binds me and Raku together?"_

"I can't bear that." Chitoge sobbed, using a pillow to muffle her screams.

Love is a painful thing indeed.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Merry Christmas everybody! Uh, sorry about the painful ending. Not the best Christmas present, I know, but it's all part of the plot I have going on in my head. **

**I was thinking about something today. I've noticed that my Fanfics have more dialogue than anything else. The reason I love anime so much is because I find interactions between characters to be very interesting and enjoyable. That's also why I love romance animes because they're packed with interactions and drama and it even influenced me to write Fanfics. I've seen quite a few Fanfics authors who uses multiple paragraphs with little to no dialogue to create a setting or describe a character's feelings, and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but I usually leave the setting up to the imagination of the viewer and I use inner monologues to describe a person's feelings.**


	9. Kosaki's Bold Move, Marika's Decision!

The young heiress slowly started to wake up. A stingy feeling in her eyes was odd to her but what was even stranger for her was the time.

"_Why is it already noon?_" Chitoge pondered. Normally, she would wake up early in the morning full of energy but she felt completely drained, even after sleeping in so late.

Feeling a deep pain in her chest, Chitoge asked "Why do I feel… Oh, that's right." Memories of last night flooded her mind all at once. Suddenly, it all made sense to her. After spending most of the night awake, she finally cried herself to sleep really late.

If she had anymore tears in her system, she would've started crying again. Instead, she just laid back down and tried going back to sleep to escape the aching pain in her heart.

"Raku…"

Back in the yakuza's house, a certain young master was helping his family for the holidays by preparing a feast.

"Hey, young master. A pretty lady has come here to visit you. Why not take a break?" Ryu called out to his master.

"Umm, okay." Raku answered back with slight confusion and wondered "_She said she was meeting me tomorrow. Why is she here now?"_

After making his way to the door, Raku was surprised to see who was waiting for him.

"Hey there, Kosaki."

"Hello Raku, I hope I'm not intruding." Kosaki greeted back with a soft smile.

Confused by her sudden visit, Raku asked "You're not, don't worry. I hope you don't mind my asking, but why are you here?" The only two people who ever showed up to Raku's house unannounced were Chitoge and Shuu so Kosaki's visit threw him off.

Mustering up the required courage, Kosaki asked "Can we go on a short walk?"

Since the request wouldn't take too long, Raku accepted "Sure."

The two proceeded to take a stroll around the neighborhood. Taking in her surroundings, Kosaki observed with merry "I think snow is really beautiful. It's just so pure and it shines brilliantly."

"_I think snow is a pain in the butt. It irritates my eyes to look at and it's annoying to see the same color everywhere. Plus, it makes walking around a total drag." _Raku thought to himself, snow being his nemesis for years. Of course, he could never say such mean things to such a soft girl so he simply agreed with her "Yeah, it sure is."

"I thought you hated snow, Raku?" Kosaki asked quizzically.

Somehow, Raku was caught and he responded with "Huh?"

"I overheard you and Shuu talking about the seasons once and you said you hated snow." Kosaki explained.

Feeling guilty for lying, Raku answered honestly "Well, it's true. I do hate snow. I'm surprised you remember something like that though."

Blushing lightly, Kosaki admitted "I'm always paying attention to you. What you do, what you say. I want to understand you better, that's why I know these strange things like you disliking snow.

Shocked at this reveal, Raku only managed to say "W-Wow. I never knew you paid that much attention to those kinds of things."

Her blush slowly intensifying, Kosaki went on "W-Well, it wasn't much. After all, I can't tell you what you're feeling or anything like that. That's always been a mystery to me. Well... I can tell you about some of your feelings…"

"If it were Chitoge, you definitely would've told her that you hated snow. That's the difference between me and her."

Raku failed to make sense of what she was trying to say, but agreed anyways "You're probably right. If Chitoge asked, I most likely would've been honest with her. It's probably because her reaction wouldn't bother me."

Feelings of jealousy started building up inside Kosaki. Looking away from Raku, Kosaki explained her perspective "You and Chitoge must trust each other a lot. Sometimes, the things you two say to each other causes a fight, but you guys always trust each other to make up. The bond you and her share is a bond that persists, no matter what harsh things you inflict on each other."

Tears started welling up in Kosaki's eyes. Her message was finally starting to reach its climax and she continued bravely "I never wanted to admit it to myself, but I always knew you two were in love with each other, but I had to face that fact for the first time yesterday when Chitoge told me the truth."

To say that Raku was an oblivious idiot would be an understatement, but even someone like him could tell where this was going. "Kosaki…" Raku uttered at a loss for words.

Unable to contain her tears any longer, Kosaki faced Raku and confessed with a bright smile despite her tears "I love you, Raku."

Kosaki's confession made a huge impact on Raku. Despite being such a timid and reserved girl, Kosaki released such powerful feelings to him, and Raku couldn't help but respect that, however…

"I'm sorry, Kosaki, but it's true. The one I'm in love with is Chitoge. I can't return your feelings." Raku apologized as he bowed.

Hearing Raku's soft words was enough for Kosaki who started wiping away her tears and responded "Thank you for telling me that. I think I just took the first step in moving on from these feelings and I couldn't do that without you."

Trying to choose his words carefully, Raku said "I hope I didn't hurt your feelings. You're a great girl and all. I'm also grateful to you because I'm able to move on too."

Kosaki gave him a confused look and Raku realized he said something careless, despite trying to be careful with his words. Realizing Kosaki opened up about her feelings, Raku felt like he should do the same and admitted "There was a time when I really liked you, Kosaki. Whenever I talked about my dream girl, I used you as a reference. Your looks, your personality, I couldn't find a single fault in you. I could tell you ninety nine things wrong with Chitoge." Raku chuckled a little before going on "I really did like you, Kosaki, but now my heart belongs exclusively to Chitoge and I can say that without any doubt now."

It was such a bitter-sweet confession for Kosaki to hear, but decided she was going to move on from this and avoided questions about what could've been. But there was one more question that's been eating away at her.

"Why did you choose Chitoge?"

"_This question again…" _

Later that day, Chitoge noticed that her entire mafia family was in a very merry mood.

"_You're all mafia members. Stop acting all jolly, it's unfitting." _Chitoge thought bitterly as she couldn't experience the joy her family was experiencing. An idea suddenly came across her mind which she decided to act upon. Putting on her winter apparel, Chitoge snuck out through her window. It was already an easy task to begin with, but with her family so busy it became increasingly easier to sneak out.

"It's dark out." Chitoge coldly observed the night sky as she was in the middle of escaping her mansion. Once she was on the outskirts of the property, Chitoge started casually walking about.

_Rumble_

"_Maybe I'll get something to eat."_ Chitoge answered her grumbling stomach. Unknown to her family, she hasn't had a bite to eat yet today and kept saying stuff like "I'm saving my appetite for Christmas dinner tonight". Chitoge looked at all the "closed for the holidays" signs with lifeless eyes and growled "Figures."

Starting to notice all the happy families and couples, Chitoge snarled under her breath "If I wanted to see this, I would've stayed back at the mansion. I hate people."

Noticing that she was mentally taking her unhappiness out on others, her anger subsided but was replaced with just as much sorrow. Feeling light headed, Chitoge sat down on a nearby bench.

Feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket, Chitoge took it out and her heart sank.

"_It's from Raku_." Chitoge observed and started checking the message.

"Hey, Chitoge. I just wanted to let you know-" Chitoge couldn't bring herself to read further.

Her surroundings were bustling with life. In just about every direction, families, friends, and especially couples were enjoying themselves. It's fitting for the night of Christmas Eve to be this lively, but at the same time, it's not fitting when you take into account her current situation.

"_Raku…_" thoughts of the boy she loves keep crossing her mind. She began typing out a message that read "Who do you really love?" Shaking her head softly as if already knowing the answer, she erased the message without sending it and instead typed a new one.

Looking at what she just typed, she chuckled with bitterness. After all, a simple text shouldn't have as much impact as it did, especially one that hasn't been sent, but it was tearing her heart apart from just reading it. Tears were the result of some many mixed emotions and of not knowing what to do. Collecting herself as much as she could, her thumb hovered over the "send" button, unsure of whether or not to go through with it.

Out of nowhere, Chitoge felt her phone being snatched. She couldn't see the culprit because her tears blurred her vision.

"I wonder what we have here." Chitoge heard a familiar voice say.

"H-Hey! Give that back!" Chitoge choked the words out, not having the strength to take it back by force.

About two seconds later, Chitoge, through her blurred vision, saw her phone being thrown to the ground and repeatedly stomped on.

"Woah! Marika, don't you think that's going way too far?" Chitoge heard another voice say.

Realizing she had to fix her poor vision, Chitoge started wiping her tears to the point where she could actually see. As expected, Marika was standing before her with Kosaki trying her best to restrain her from causing any more damage to the phone. Looking at the ground, Chitoge saw her phone in pieces. It was hopelessly broken.

"Kosaki, this gorilla was about to break up with Raku!" Marika shouted as she tried struggling out of Kosaki's full nelson.

"What?! Is that true, Chitoge?!" Kosaki gasped as she looked at Chitoge with disbelief.

Looking at Kosaki and Marika, Chitoge wondered what they were doing here in the first place. Of all the people in the world, Chitoge didn't want to see Raku the most but Kosaki makes a close second at the moment.

Biting her lower lip, Chitoge sniffled "Why should you be so surprised. It's obvious, isn't it? The one Raku loves has always been you, Kosaki. That love's even mutual. If I don't break up with him, everyone will just be unhappy and-"

"What are you talking about?!" Kosaki interjected, bewildered.

Chitoge looked at Kosaki's confused face. "_She doesn't get it at all! What do I have to do to get her to understand?!" _Chitoge thought bitterly as her heart was aching in pain.

"Chitoge, I understand why you're saying those things. I thought Raku was in love with Kosaki as well, but that's simply not the case anymore!" Marika's words cut Chitoge's thoughts off.

This caught Chitoge off guard but she responded in disbelief "Don't be stupid! Of course Raku still loves Kosaki!"

"Listen, Chitoge." Kosaki almost demanded before going on "Today, I told Raku how I feel about him, I told him that I love him, but he turned me down. He said you're the one he's in love with!"

Chitoge was utterly shocked that Kosaki already confessed to Raku. Everything seemed to be progressing way too fast and she didn't like it. But, wait, Kosaki was turned down?

Before Chitoge could even respond, Marika pitched in "I can tell when Raku is lying and when he's telling the truth. That's why when he told me that he's in love with Chitoge, I knew it wasn't some lie to cover up his family problems. He told me-"

"_Why am I saying these things?"_

"He told me you were annoying, too strong for your own good, selfish, and that you have no have manners."

"_If I mind my own business, their relationship will surely fall apart."_

"You clobber him at every opportunity and you have no feminine points in the first place."

"_She was just about to end their relationship. So why…"_

"But, even so." Tears started racing down Marika's face from so many conflicting feelings.

"_Why does it hurt to see things end like this?" _

"He said you never let him be alone. Whether if he wanted you to or not, you were always there when he needed someone. Even when there was no reason for you to go to him, you always did it anyways on your own accord."

"_I know why."_

"Because of you, Raku said he found a reason to give it his all in just about every aspect of his life. You brightened his life because he was always looking forward to the next adventure he would go on with you."

"_I love Raku too much to let his happiness be trampled on by something like a stupid misunderstanding."_

"That's what separates us from you, Chitoge. In the end, despite what Raku might've said, his true ideal girlfriend is one that makes the kind of impact you made on his life."

"_And I honestly hate to admit this, but…"_

"That's why I won't let you trample on his true feelings because of your selfish insecurities!" Marika shouted the last part. Clenching her fist, Marika roared "Now grit them teeth!"

Before Chitoge had any time to react, Marika buried her fist as deep as she could into Chitoge's cheek. The force of her punch was so great that Chitoge fell face first onto the cold snow and Marika followed her due to over exerting her weak body.

"_Chitoge's my friend. Thanks to her, I was able to give it my all as well."_

"Chitoge! Marika! Are you two alright?!" Kosaki asked worriedly. Seeing Marika struggling to stand up first, Kosaki helped Marika up and was shocked at her condition.

"Oh darn, it looks like I've gone done it now. Course I had to fall face first in the blasted concrete!" Marika complained weakly, trying to cover her bloody nose. Trying to regain her composure, Marika added "My, it's amazing to see how easily a gorilla is rendered helpless onto the snow. Kosaki, please let go of me for a second."

If Chitoge had to be truly honest, it felt like martial arts master had just stuck her. She wanted to complain about the pain, but she knew she deserved it.

"_I'm such an idiot." _Chitoge thought to herself as she raised her face from the snow and started struggling to get up.

"Here." Chitoge heard someone say. A frail hand came into Chitoge's view. Looking up, Chitoge was surprised that Marika was offering her assistance.

"Normally, it pleases me to see you struggle, but I'll make a Christmas exception for you." Marika teased with a warm smile.

Chitoge was reluctant to grab the hand that put her in her current situation but accepted anyways.

"Thanks, Marika." Chitoge uttered quietly, looking away with guilt. It damaged her pride so much to be helped by Marika twice in a row.

Once Chitoge finally stood up, the first thing she did was envelope Marika into a gentle hug.

"E-Eh?! What are you-" Marika protested but quickly stopped when she heard Chitoge crying.

"You… You stopped me from doing something ridiculously stupid… Thank you... Thank you so much." Chitoge sobbed into Marika's shoulder.

Wrapping her arms around Chitoge, Marika sighed "Geez, just don't misunderstand, okay? I'm only doing this for Raku, nobody else." Looking towards Kosaki, Marika insisted "You should join us, Kosaki."

Crying as well, Kosaki accepted Marika's invitation and rushed over to embrace her friends.

Comforting two sobbing girls, Marika couldn't help but complain "Come now. Is it really necessary to cry this much?" Although it was unnoticed to the other girls, Marika was crying silently.

After the beautiful moment they shared, the hug was ended and Chitoge apologized "I'm sorry for causing you two so much trouble. I was a Grade-A idiot. Please forgive me."

"No, no! There's no need to apologize, Chitoge. You were just really confused." Kosaki comforted.

"Hmpf, more like "Grade-S idiot". But no matter, I shall extend my forgiveness to you since you didn't actually cause trouble for Raku this time." Marika groaned.

Despite Marika's harsh words, the important thing to Chitoge was that she was forgiven by both of them.

A question popping into her mind, Kosaki asked "Why are you here anyways, Chitoge? I thought you had to spend time with family today."

A good question indeed, one that Chitoge had an answer to "Oh, yeah. Well, I was super depressed so I snuck out to avoid my jolly mafia family. Ah, they're probably really worried about me! I should probably give them a call, oh." Chitoge finished, realizing her phone was utterly destroyed.

Some color drained from Marika's face when their attention was focused on the broken phone lying in the snow.

"I'm sorry about your phone. I acted in the heat of the moment and I went too far." Marika apologized sincerely.

Grateful to Marika, Chitoge insisted "Don't worry about it. Phones are easy to replace, relationships aren't. Anyways, if you want to apologize about something, say you're sorry for clocking me in the face!"

"I refuse, you did deserve that. Wait, you don't even have a mark or anything! I even got a nose bleed and you come out unmarked?!" Marika scolded and complained.

Realizing she's been away for far too long, Chitoge said her goodbyes "I'm sorry, but I have to go home now. They're all probably freaking out."

The girls said their goodbyes and they went on their way.

"Chitoge! Can you wait a second!" Kosaki asked, almost insisting. Once she saw Chitoge turn around, Kosaki confessed "I really do love Raku and I will never regret it. That's why make sure you make him really happy, okay?"

Chitoge couldn't help but smile at Kosaki's request and responded "I'll make him the happiest beansprout who ever lived!

A bitter-sweat smile formed on Kosaki's lips as she nodded to her departing friend.

Kosaki and Marika decided to spend a little more time together.

"I'm surprised Shitoge didn't question that we were together today." Marika remarked.

"She's probably had too much on her mind to even question it. By the way, how did you know she would do something so reckless?" Kosaki asked.

Sighing, Marika answered "Once you told me everything that happened, I knew she would do something stupid, it's in her nature. That's why I had you meet me when she wouldn't respond to our texts. I guess you could say I've been keeping an eye on her, and on you as well, Kosaki."

Reaching her front door, Chitoge gulped. Whenever she went missing, there was always an uproar among her family. Opening the door reluctantly, Chitoge was greeted with confusion.

"Mistress, what are you doing here?"

"Aren't you supposed to be with your boyfriend?"

A more familiar voice said "You're still here? Here, let me drive you."

"M-Mom?!" Chitoge blurted, surprised at her mother's appearance.

Chitoge found herself being driven late at night to her boyfriend's house by her mother.

"I had to tell them something. They were freaking out!" Hana explained.

Blushing fiercely, Chitoge exclaimed "You didn't have to tell them I was spending the night at the yakuza's place!"

Trying to explain herself further, Hana went on "You've done it before, remember? Besides, I knew that you were feeling down all day. You never came out of your room, not once! I knew if anyone could make you feel better, it would be him."

"But!" Chitoge protested but was quickly interrupted.

"Look, two years ago, I kept you from spending the night with him so I'm making up for that this year. Just give in already, I know you want to. It's written all over your face. I'll be home tomorrow as well, so just spend time tonight with him, deal?"

Chitoge didn't have the will to go against her own wishes anymore, so she silently agreed "Fine. At least tell me that Raku's family knows I'm coming over."

"Let's just say they're all in for a surprise." Hana scratched the back of her head, feeling a little guilty for putting Chitoge in such an embarrassing situation.

Once they reached Chitoge's destination, Hana advised "Just make sure if you're going to do any funny business, make sure to-"

"OH MY GOD, MOTHER! WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING LIKE THAT! Chitoge exclaimed as she blushed furiously.

Seeing Chitoge fall for the tease, Hana laughed hysterically before driving off.

"Grr… That mother of mine." Chitoge complained under her breath. Turning around to see the house, Chitoge gulped and started making her way towards her lover.

Alone in his room, Raku sighed "Boy, today was exhausting. I'm glad I get to see Chitoge tomorrow… hopefully. I hope she got my text but I'm a little worried since she hasn't replied."

_Knock knock_

"_What do they want from me now?! I hope they know I won't be making any late night treats." _Raku thought to himself, annoyed from being bothered late at night. "Coming." Raku acknowledged the knocking as he started making his way towards his door.

As all the clocks in the city hit 12:00, snow started descending from the sky.

* * *

**Author's Notes: So there wasn't any RakuXChitoge time in this chapter and that's because I'm leaving all of the awesomeness for the finale. With that said, the next chapter will be the absolute last chapter of this Fanfic. When it comes to stories I've written, this one is my favorite but I have to draw a line somewhere so I can move on to other things. That said, I am thinking about a Valentines Day fanfic but no promises yet! **

**One of my biggest problems is choosing a pairing to write about. I ALWAYS want to write about RakuXChitoge because it's currently my absolute favorite shipping, and I'm only loving it more with the latest chapters (chapter 199 and 200, too good). The problem is, I want to write about other ships too like ToumaXMisaka from Index or HarimaXEri from School Rumble. Oh, and then there's RakuXMarika. I adore Marika and you may have noticed I give her way more lines in this Fanfic than other supporting characters like Kosaki. I mean, Kosaki barely said anything during the whole Chitoge scene in this chapter. So basically, I'm torn whether or not to write another RakuXChitoge Fanfic or switch to another pairing.**

**Last thing, the next chapter will most likely take longer to make compared to the others. Sorry guys, but my spring semester of college is starting up soon. With that said, I do plan on having the last chapter sometime during this month... but no promises. I can promise that I won't just say "screw it" and give up writing this for like a year. But anyways, I will see you... in the next chapter. BYE BYE!**


	10. Christmas Finale The Locket Opened!

"Coming." Raku answered as he got up to answer the door. Once Raku reached his sliding door and opened it, what he found on the other side was shocking to say the least.

"Hey, darling." Chitoge murmured with a slight blush on her face. Raku was too startled to say anything in response which made Chitoge even more uncomfortable until she went on "I'm sorry for visiting so-"

_Shut_

Acting off instinct, Raku closed his door and backed up a few steps and thought desperately "_What?! What?! WHAAAAAAT?! W-Why?! Why is my girlfriend here?! Doesn't she know what time it is?!"_ Raku was expecting Chitoge to break down the door but she never did.

Regaining some of his composure, Raku opened the door enough to peak through and saw Chitoge blushing even harder as she patiently waited. Ending the silence, Raku asked "Why are you here so late?"

"Please let me in." Chitoge pleaded quietly, looking straight towards the floor.

Her gentleness caught Raku off guard as he thought "_G-Geez, I've never seen that look before. Plus, she's being so gentle right now. Something must be wrong."_

"Come on in." Raku whispered as he slid his door open for her.

Accepting his invitation, Chitoge entered his room, closing the door behind her and putting down her bags in a corner of the room. Raku stared awkwardly at her until her decided to speak up "So, why are you here?"

"Didn't you want me to come over for Christmas?" Chitoge accused, still staring at the floor.

Raku looked over at his alarm clock and the displayed time was "12:03".

"Normally, I would've thought that this is one of your elaborate plans to spend more time with me, but… I can tell that somethings wrong." Raku admitted, scratching the back of his head anxiously.

When Raku saw Chitoge's expression get even more painful, Raku went on "I'd also say 'you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to', but you didn't come all this way to stay silent about it, right? Whenever you're ready, I'm all ears."

Their relationship was definitely based on their enduring bond and their openness with each other. Sometimes, Chitoge cursed their closeness because they never held back with each other, especially about the things that shouldn't be said. That leads to the duo fighting on a regular basis. But it was times like these where Chitoge treasured their bond, because she knew Raku wasn't using sweetened words just to make her feel better. To her, Raku might as well have said "talk to me and we'll work this out together."

Taking the first small step, Chitoge moved her gaze from the floor and finally took a look at her boyfriend. A flood of emotions went coursed through Chitoge's heart. She wouldn't have thought just looking at a person can be so emotional, but considering she almost lost the person she loves, the onslaught of emotions starts to make more sense.

"I love you, Raku. I love you without all of my heart." Chitoge spoke gently, trying to express her feelings as best she could.

Chitoge's confession came out of left field. Sure, Chitoge has said that to him before, and he never doubted her. But this time, her words felt weighted as if they were laws that governed the universe.

"I love you too, Chitoge." Raku answered back and started to scratch the back of his head again. There was absolutely no doubt in his mind that he was deeply in love with her, but was embarrassed that the passion of his words couldn't match Chitoge's.

Whenever Raku got nervous, he almost always scratched the back of his head, just like he's doing now. Making Raku worried added to Chitoge's guilt, but for some reason she couldn't help but giggle. Was it because his loss of composure was funny to her or was it because she was relieved that Raku still acted in Raku-like ways?

"H-Hey, what's so funny?!" Raku asked with a touch of irritation to his voice.

Putting a hand over her mouth and hunching over, Chitoge tried containing herself as her giggling became uncontrollable. Without warning, her eyes started getting wet and they also got warmer. Thinking her eyes were irritated, Chitoge started brushing them with her hand but that couldn't stop tears from racing down her face. Finally feeling the great pain in her heart, Chitoge's giggling quickly turned into sobbing as she covered her eyes in shame as tears rained endless down her face.

Without a word, Raku walked over to Chitoge and wrapped his arms around her as he gently started running his hands through her hair. Chitoge clutched Raku tightly with no intention of ever letting go as she cried on Raku's shoulder. Never before in his life has Raku seen Chitoge, no, anyone cry as hard and as long as Chitoge was doing at this very moment.

After what seemed like forever, Chitoge released her hold on Raku and started wiping away the trails on tears on her face. "I'm sorry. I just got really emotional." Chitoge sniffled an apology.

"Don't worry about it." Raku answered back, releasing his girlfriend who was starting to calm down.

After getting the tears out of the way, Chitoge had hesitant thoughts "_Should I really tell him? He might get really upset. Maybe I should pretend like nothing was ever wrong… No, I have to tell him. I already cried in front of him, I almost broke up with him, and I caused so much trouble for our friends."_

"Do you love Kosaki?" Chitoge popped the question, locking her eyes with Raku.

"No." Raku answered back truthfully and tried piecing the puzzle together in his head "_I wonder if this has anything to do with Kosaki confessing to me earlier."_

"Were you in love with her before?" Chitoge went through with her interrogation. Marika and Kosaki already gave her answers, but only Raku's answer could give Chitoge peace of mind.

This question made Raku lose some of his composure and eventually answered "Yes."

The last question that's still bottled up in Chitoge's mind was considerably hard to vocalize. Gritting her teeth, Chitoge finally asked "What if… What if our fake relationship never happened and you two started dating. Do you… Do you think you would be happier with her?"

For Raku, the first question had a simple answer, the second question was also simple but hard to confess, but with the third he didn't even know how to answer. For this question, he had to close his eyes to think for a little bit.

After giving it some thought, Raku answered back "That's a tough question to answer. Kosaki is a really sweet and charming girl, one that I sought after for so long. If we dated, there's no doubt in my mind that she would be a great girlfriend."

The weight of Raku's words felt like an anchor on Chitoge's chest who could do nothing but look away speechlessly.

"But I don't think I would be happier with her. I'm already the happiest I could ever be when I'm with you."

Suddenly, the heavy weight in her chest was gone and she looked over at Raku who wore a soft blush and gentle smile.

"You're the one I want to be with, Chitoge. I don't want to live in another time or place that doesn't have you in it. I love you more than anybody else."

Chitoge thought that she got all of the tears out earlier. _She was wrong. _Once she started crying again, Chitoge released everything "I-I thought you still loved her. I thought I ruined your happiness by moving here and becoming your fake girlfriend. I almost broke up with you tonight! I thought I was doing the right thing, but Marika and Kosaki stopped me. I've caused everyone so much trouble and I almost lost you… I'm the worst. You've been the most caring, sweetest, and perfect boyfriend and I'm just…"

_Flick_

A small pain in her head stopped Chitoge from going on and she realized that Raku just flicked her in the forehead.

"H-Huh?" Chitoge muttered as tears continued racing down her face.

As Raku started wiping away her tears with his hands, he lectured "You were about to say more stupid things and your forehead looked so flickable. You are far from the worst, you hear? Now, I would've been fine if you would've said that you were the stupidest, because at least you would be telling the truth. I… I'm not mad at you, but next time can you talk it out with me rather than making rash decisions?"

Chitoge couldn't believe her ears. She spilled the beans, dropped the bomb, she said she almost ended their relationship and she came out with a small flick to the head and a small lecture?

Still having things to say, Raku went on "Although, to say I'm not hurt… would be a lie. The thought that our relationship could've ended tonight, gives my heart the worst kind of shudders." Raku's face had a tinge of pain on it and he couldn't bear to look at Chitoge. "You're the one person I won't be able to stand losing, so please… don't leave me." Raku softly pleaded.

With her heart unprepared for Raku's plead, she wrapped her arms tightly around him and cried "I won't ever think of leaving you again. I'll talk out my problems with you before acting. I won't do anything as brainless as I almost did yesterday. You don't have to worry about a thing!"

The two stayed like that for a long time. When Raku was curious about the time, he checked his alarm clock which read "1:20 AM". Deciding that they can't hold each other forever, Raku patted Chitoge's back to signal the end of the hug, but this only made Chitoge hold him tighter. As a result, their embrace last a few more minutes but Chitoge eventually released Raku but still stayed close to him.

"Does this… Does this mean we've made up… again?" Chitoge asked, feeling a lot more stable than earlier.

"Don't we have to fight in order to make up? The way I see it, we don't need to make up. We're fine as we are." Raku answered back honestly.

"Look at us. Just three days ago we made up after constantly fighting and today we went through so much drama. It's so exhausting… even though a lot of it is my fault." Chitoge complained, feeling slightly drained emotionally.

Thinking back to the cause of their fighting earlier this week, Raku exclaimed "Oh yeah! I have something to give you, Chitoge."

Already knowing where Raku was going with this, Chitoge said with uncertainty "Shouldn't we wait until morning to celebrate? I mean, after all that's happened-"

"No way. What's the point in waiting? Besides, this is the best way to move on from all that drama." Raku answered back as he rummaged through his drawers.

"But still, shouldn't we wait until we're feeling better to-"

"Merry Christmas, Chitoge." Raku beamed with a smile as he placed two presents in front of his girlfriend.

Both Raku's persistence and his smile defeated Chitoge who couldn't help but return the smile as she complained "Geez. You know, it used to be my way or the highway, but ever since we started dating, you found out that you can get me to agree to anything if you're determined enough… and have a cute smile."

Before even touching her presents, Chitoge got up to get something from the bags she placed down earlier. Placing two gifts in front of Raku, Chitoge beamed back "Merry Christmas, Raku. I hope you like them!"

"Copycat." Raku accused Chitoge which earned a giggle from his girlfriend. "Well, ladies first." Raku urged his girlfriend to open her gifts.

"O-Okay." Chitoge answered nervously. Sure, she was super excited to open the gifts her boyfriend got for her, but his choice of presents have been… untasteful in the past which makes Chitoge a little hesitant.

After opening one of the presents, it was revealed to be a photo album half filled with a bunch of pictures of the couple since they started high school together

"I know we don't have many photos of us together as kids, and that's why I wanted to start filling out one with you now about our high school years." Raku reasoned as he blushed a little bit from the anticipation of Chitoge's response.

As she browsed through the photos, some of which she forgot were taken, Chitoge answered "Idiot. There's not going to be enough empty slots with all of the pictures I plan on adding to this… Thank you Raku, I love it."

Chitoge was obviously absorbed in the photo album already which was good enough for Raku who lectured "Just don't put every photo you take of us into it and there will be enough room."

Once Chitoge looked through all of the photos, she wanted to look through them again. Just looking at all of the happy moments they spent together gave her heart warm nostalgia, but she closed the album to give her attention to her other present which she proceeded to open.

"It's so… beautiful." Chitoge uttered almost breathlessly.

"Want my help putting it on?" Raku offered, blushing from her comment.

After Raku helped put the accessory on, Chitoge quickly got up to look at her reflection. The silver necklace suited her well and she adored the crescent moon shape. Combined with her ribbon, which was also a gift from Raku, Chitoge couldn't help but honestly feel beautiful.

Turning around to face her boyfriend, Chitoge spoke honestly "Thank you so much, Raku. This is honestly the greatest gift I've ever gotten. If I could still cry, I would be weeping with joy I'm so happy. You've given me the best Christmas I've ever had and… what..?" In the middle of her speech, tears started falling down her face again. "Haha, see? There I go again." Chitoge laughed and cried as she drew closer to Raku and once again enveloped him in a hug.

Wrapping his arms around his girlfriend, Raku smiled "How many times can you cry two hours into a day..? I'm glad you like it, Chitoge." This earned Raku a mixture of giggling and sniffling from his overjoyed girlfriend.

The embraced didn't last too long as Chitoge wiped away her tears and said enthusiastically "Okay, now it's time for you to open your presents, darling!"

Just seeing Chitoge going back to her cheerful self meant a lot to Raku, but the gift exchange wasn't over yet so he sat down in front of his presents and asked "Now, before I open these, is there anything in these that I should be worried about? Like fatal chemical substances or-"

"Just open them." Chitoge nudged her boyfriend impatiently.

Even though Chitoge didn't have any habit of buying him weird things, Raku still felt incredibly nervous to open his gifts because had a strong feeling that she put a lot of thought and effort into them.

Once he made up his mind to open one up, he grabbed one and was about to start taking the wrappings off before he was stopped by Chitoge "No! Open the other one first!"

"W-What? There's an order to this?!" Raku asked and Chitoge nodded her head with a serious face.

"I sometimes forget the extent of your pickiness." Raku complained as he went to open the other one as ordered and what he unraveled initially made him shudder. It was a picture frame with a photo of that eventful day at the amusement park when the two were riding a roller coaster together. In the picture, they were going down the first hill but Raku's face was filled with horror from Chitoge's prank.

"G-Geez. What am I supposed to say? 'Thanks for reminding me of the day I almost had a heart attack on a roller coaster'? That was the scariest experience I've ever lived through." Raku complained, feeling a little dizzy just thinking about it.

"It's only because you're such a scardy cat and you're easy to fool. Your reaction was priceless!" Chitoge laughed.

Looking at the photo again, Raku saw Chitoge's radiant yet mischievous smile as they went down the first hill. Was it because she was successful in her cruel prank? Probably, but all that matters is that she was happy and that made Raku feel warm inside despite the chills. That date was probably the best date they've ever gone on. Even after becoming a genuine couple, their real dates haven't trumped that last fake date where their feelings were blossoming so intensely.

As he remember that day, Raku couldn't help but smile as he honestly said "Thanks, Chitoge. It was a cruel prank but it was also the perfect date. I'll treasure this picture, despite all the nightmares it's bound to give me."

"You're welcome. I knew you'd love it!" Chitoge beamed back.

"Well, time to open the other-"

"Wait a second!" Chitoge interrupted as she grabbed his hand.

"W-What is it?" Raku questioned, looking into Chitoge's fiercely blushing face.

"Just don't… set your expectations too high." Chitoge answered timidly and let go of Raku's hand.

Taking this as his cue to open it, Raku started unwrapping the gift and was puzzled by what was in the wrapping.

"A… scarf?" Raku took out a plain red scarf. It didn't feel like store quality, in fact he could've bought a better quality one at the store. And more than anything else, it smelled strongly like Chitoge.

"Did… Did you make this?" Raku asked, still looking at the scarf.

"Y-Yeah." Chitoge answered back, afraid that it wasn't a satisfying gift.

Suddenly, the way he viewed the scarf changed. It felt slightly heavier and its imperfections became its charming points, it was made by his girlfriend after all. There was a bubbly feeling in his heart just from holding it. With her family's wealth, Chitoge couldn't bought Raku just about anything, even something as ridiculous as a luxurious car even though he has no desire for one. But for Chitoge to put so much time and effort into something she made herself was the best gift of all. Raku was truly old fashioned. A big smile blossomed on his face as he wrapped it around his neck.

"How do I look?" Raku asked his girlfriend as he started posing in front of her.

"Um, you look nice." Chitoge answered timidly, still unsure of how Raku feelings about the gift.

Filled with gratitude, Raku thanked Chitoge "Thank you for the gift, honey. I really do love it. To be honest, if you asked me what I wanted for Christmas, I probably wouldn't have said scarf, and yet somehow I can't think of a better present than this knowing that you made it. I'll treasure this."

"Y-You really like it?" Chitoge asked, starting to feel relieved.

"I really do! How could I not after all the trouble you went through to make this for me?!" Raku beamed back with passion.

A warm tenderness was in Chitoge's heart from Raku's words. Raku's reaction to the scarf was like a child's reaction to getting toys, which Chitoge thought was incredibly cute.

"You better like it! I spent hours on that stupid thing!" Chitoge recalled all the countless attempts to make Raku the perfect scarf and ended up settling on the best one she made. Seeing Raku wearing it made it all worth it though.

"Once I took a look at the scarf, it practically screamed 'Chitoge'. You have quite a way of making things, don't you?" Raku teased back.

"H-Hey! What's that supposed to mean?" Chitoge demanded with a pout.

Walking over to her, Raku wrapped his arms around her and whispered "It means I love the things you make for me."

"Well, I only make the most amazing things, so it's only natural for you to love them." Chitoge blushed as she returned the hug.

"Like that salty chocolate?" Raku teased.

"Shut up."

Both Raku and Chitoge were satisfied with Christmas already. It had a rough start to say the least, but they got through it together, just like they always did and left off on a high note. They both got the perfect gifts and that was it for presents, or so it seemed.

Still embracing Raku, Chitoge proposed in a whisper "Hey, Raku? I think there's still one more gift. Not a gift from me to you, or from you to me, but from us to our relationship. Um, that may not have made sense." Chitoge became apparently nervous as she went on "I think we should… open the locket now."

This gave Raku's heart a jolt. Of course, he wondered why Chitoge had such a change in heart, after all, it was her decision not to open the locket.

"Okay." Raku simply agreed as he ended the embrace and took a look at Chitoge's face. "_She's serious about this." _Raku observed her passionate yet timid face.

The two retrieved their respective items with Raku holding the locket and Chitoge holding her key.

"You… you ready?" Raku asked his girlfriend, his heart pounding.

"Yes." Chitoge answered, shaking a bit from the pressure.

It played out like it did the last time they tried this. It seemed like the key was crawling towards the locket with the pace Chitoge went. After fitting the key into the locket, Chitoge slowly turned the key until…

_Clank_

"It opened." Raku and Chitoge said, almost speechlessly in unison. The contents were a letter and a peculiar Christmas ornament. Their gaze was fixated on the note which the both went on to read aloud together.

"Dear future Raku and promise girl, when we're writing this, it's Christmas and we're all about to part ways. It'll be a long time until we see each other again, so we made a promise to play again someday." - Yui

"The girls get fake keys and Rakkun gets a locket and the right key. We all really like Rakkun, so this is like a battle to see who Rakkun gives his key to. Of course, I'm going to win." - Mari

"We haven't told Raku everything because it would be embarrassing to confess our feelings right now. So when we give him the locket, we'll tell him that'll it'll reunite Raku with a promised girl." - Kosaki

"We also put a mistletoe in the locket, because our parents think we're not old enough right now to kiss him, but you're probably old enough and we all know you HAVE to kiss if you're under a mistletoe, even though it probably won't be Christmas when you're reading this." - Chitoge

"We hope you're happy, Raku, four different girls have been in love with you since the beginning! Written by: Chitoge, Kosaki, Marika, Yui."

Both Raku and Chitoge didn't take their gaze off the paper.

"So… this was like a competition between you girls?" Raku broke the silence.

"D-Don't ask me! I don't remember anything about that!" Chitoge blurted with a deep blush on her face, reading the lines she wrote and looking at the ornament.

One of the biggest mysteries in Raku's life has been solved just like that. It was a competition that he was left in the dark about and even the girls forgotten about it. It was sweet, sure, but it was a tad underwhelming for his expectations, or so he thought. He was so absorbed by the letter that he completely forgot about the mistletoe which gave his heart a jolt when it finally crossed his mind.

Forcing his inner gentleman like ways, Raku blushed as he scolded "G-Geez, Chitoge. You were pretty bold as a kid. Stuffing a mistletoe into the locket and saying we have to kiss. We shouldn't have our first kiss just because-"

Taking one good look at Chitoge's face was enough to shut Raku up. Sure, she looked really timid and hesitant with her scarlet blush, but that didn't stop the look she gave Raku. It was a look of longing and seriousness that Raku couldn't call ignorance on, they had been together for far too long for Raku to still be unsure of when Chitoge was dead serious or not.

Through her crimson blush, Chitoge forced her question "If you won't kiss me because of the mistletoe, then will you kiss me because I love you?"

Hearing that made Raku's heart skip a beat. Secretly, he has wanted to kiss Chitoge for a long time, but was afraid of rushing things, but the situation has changed. After getting an invitation from her, there was no way he could say no to her, after all, this is what he wanted too.

As the two drew closer, their hearts started beating faster. The couple's hands found their way towards each other and locked instinctively. As the distance almost diminished between the two, they closed their eyes and then…

They finally experienced it, absolute bliss. Suddenly, gravity seemed to disappear as their kiss continued. On TV, kissing looks special but the couple didn't imagine it had such a strong and passionate feeling behind it. And just like that, it was over. Their best memory yet was compacted into a span of a short few seconds. Opening their eyes to look at the other, it felt like they've fallen in love all over again and the other person looked incredibly… irresistible.

"One more." Chitoge whispered, closing her eyes.

Without a word, Raku closed his eyes and went for that blissful sensation yet again and every time they parted, Chitoge insisted "One more". It started with small kisses but it escalated with lust as their desires got the better of them. Raku got more forceful and Chitoge welcomed it. After the climax of their passion, it ended up with Raku on the floor with Chitoge on top of him as their lips separated… and their tongues.

After their long make out session, Chitoge rested on Raku's chest and panted "This is what happens… After holding back for so long."

"I'm sorry… I was a little… Forceful." Raku panted his apology.

"Believe me… If you didn't take us that far… I would've. Do you know how long I've been waiting for this?! Besides, I'm the one who pinned you to the floor!" Chitoge shot back, taking her head off his chest. Placing her hand on his cheek, Chitoge rested her head on Raku's as she complained "The thought of kissing you went through my head every day. I know I'm really pushy, but that's the one thing I didn't want to rush, so I held back."

"Well, you're not the only one. It's tough having such a beautiful girlfriend that I'm love with madly, you know?" Raku shot back honestly.

"Idiot beansprout."

"Dumb gorilla."

The two had a chuckle and stayed like that for a while until they became exhausted after everything that happened.

"I think it's time we go to bed." Raku yawned as he started getting up to get Chitoge some bed sheets.

Thinking of a small scheme in her head, Chitoge blushed as she insisted "W-Wait, Raku. If somebody sees you out getting bedsheets at this hour, they might get suspicious!"

"Who would be up at this hour? You know, besides us?" Raku asked curiously.

"You know… people who are trying to catch Santa in the act." Chitoge mumbled her response.

"You can't be serious. This house is filled with yakuza members, plus I'm the youngest person that lives here." Raku retorted, trying to think of Chitoge's motives. Finally putting two and two together, Raku blushed and answered "No, no, no, no. You can't be serious."

His response got a giggle out of Chitoge as she looked longingly at Raku with puppy dog eyes.

"There's no way! That's taking it waaaaaay too far. We can't just-"

"Raku." Chitoge started with an adorable smile and continued to ask her question "Will you share your bed with me tonight?"

The two ended up laying in the same bed with their backs to each other.

"I know you can be pushy and bold, but damn." Raku complained with a fierce blush.

"Hey, it's not like we're doing anything indecent, or is that what you thought I was asking?" Chitoge teased back.

"Shut up." Raku blurted at the tease which caused Chitoge to giggle.

Shifting her position to face Raku, Chitoge tugged on the back of Raku's shirt and whispered "Hey, hey, Raku. Turn around real quick."

Obeying her orders, Raku turned to face Chitoge and asked "What is it?"

With a bright smile, Chitoge whispered "I love you, Raku. Merry Christmas."

No matter how much she says it, it still makes Raku's heart skip a beat.

"I love you too, Chitoge. Merry Christmas." Raku smiled back.

"Hehe." Chitoge giggled from the tingly feeling in her heart. One more question popping into her mind, Chitoge asked "Raku, I promise this will be the last time I talk for the rest of the night, but I need to know. Why did you fall in love with me?"

If he wasn't already asked that twice already in the past two days, Raku's would've been taken off guard.

"Well, that's because-"

* * *

**Author's notes: IT'S FINALLY DONE! After starting this about a year and a half ago, it feels so good to finally wrap things up. I'm happy with how things turned out in this one. I was extremely salty a few days ago. Not because of battery or my laptop dying, but my word document closed out of the blue (I think I somehow hit the shortcut keys for closing the document). So, yeah, a lot of progress was lost so it took longer than expected to get this out to you guys. Thank you for waiting!**

**The locket felt incredibly underwhelming though, but one of my inspirations was the oneshot of Nisekoi and the promise in this Fanfic felt like a nice blend between the oneshot and the current story of Nisekoi and in my honest opinion, I feel like the promise should be more of a competition between the girls rather than the promise girl being decided when they were kids. Oh well, I've probably disappointed people with my locket explanation and I'm sorry for that. I'm one of the few that bring up the locket and the promise up so it's probably underwhelming compare to the expectations. Whoops~**

**In other news, we smashers get Bayonetta and Corrin Wednesday, WOO! It's sad to see the game coming to a close, but there are rumors that Smash is going to be a Nintendo NX launch title, so there's that.**

**Regarding my next story. I WANT (emphasis on want) it to be Valentines themed with RakuXMarika (sorry, Chitoge, but I spend almost a year and a half straight writing about you). I had strong ideas going through my head that I really want to write down in a Fanfic, but I don't know when I'm going to get to that with my job and college. **

**Thank you all for your support and I will see you... in the next Fanfic... BYE BYEEEEE!**


End file.
